Tag: perseverance

Embracing the Grimy Path to Success (10-8-25)

This week we are going to kick off some reflections from my recent obstacle course race at Midwest OCR.  Our first topic is embracing the grimy path to success.

Here is the picture of me after my most recent obstacle course race.  I’m smiling, striking a pose, looking strong, and proudly wearing my medal.  This picture makes it look like I smoothly and effortlessly navigated the race in a perfect fashion.  None of that is true.  My race was ugly.  You don’t see how I failed quite a few obstacles.  You don’t see me red faced and feeling like I was dying on some of those hills.  You don’t see the time I tripped and slid down a hill into a knee-deep mud bog that swallowed my legs and almost took my shoes.  You don’t see the bruises I picked up along the way.  Now that you know those things, does this make me any less successful?  For me, just because it might have been a little ugly doesn’t take away from the fact that I was ultimately successful. 

Let’s make some connections.  Have you ever looked at a successful person and said, “Whoa! They have it all figured out.  They just make success look so smooth and effortless.  They must be perfect”?  I know I have.  Then the next thing I did was start comparing myself to them, which led to self-doubt.  I would feel like a failure if everything I did wasn’t effortless and smooth.  As I’ve got older, I’ve realized that success doesn’t come from things being flawless.  Success is the result of continuing to persevere, especially when things are grimy and ugly.  

The challenge: Will you embrace that success doesn’t have to be pristine?  Will you embrace that the path to success is often grimy and ugly?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Eclipse, Darkness, Apocalypse, and Light (4-8-24)

This is a special eclipse edition of the blog and is about the apocalypse, darkness, and light.

Today is eclipse day, and in Indiana we are fortunate enough to be in the path of totality.  Recently, my family attended a presentation about the eclipse.  During the session, we watched a video that discussed eclipses since ancient times.  The narrator shared that in the days of early civilizations, people were terrified of eclipses.  Once the sky went dark, these people believed it was the beginning of the apocalypse.  They had no idea that the darkness was fleeting and that the light would return. 

My kids were fascinated by this and wondered why people would feel this way.  I told them to imagine that they had no idea what an eclipse was.  I asked them to imagine that the same routine of the sun rising and then setting had occurred over and over and over again.  Then, one day something different happens.  It’s dark when it should be light, and you don’t know how long the darkness will last.  Wouldn’t that be scary?  They agreed it would be.

What does this have to do with life?  I don’t know about you, but my life isn’t always bright and happy all the time.  Sometimes there are periods of darkness.  There are periods of trials, tribulations, sadness, and frustration.  When these periods first start encroaching on light, joy, and happiness, it can feel like it’s going to be that way forever.  It can feel like it’s your own personal apocalypse, the beginning of the end of things.  It can feel like you’ll be stuck in that shadow forever.  However, the darkness is fleeting.  The light is there.  The light is always there.  Sometimes, we just have to be able to make it through the darkness, so we can embrace the light again.

The challenge: Will you remember that the darkness is fleeting?  Will you remember that the light is still there?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry