I gave the world (or at least my gym) a show yesterday afternoon in the pool during my swim workout. Wearing my favorite burgundy Nike training suit that both I and the chlorine have loved very well over the past two years, I was determined to prove to myself that the suit was in fact still wearable, decent, and trainable.
I stubbornly started my 4,000 yard workout, with the suit riding up my bum, sliding off my chest, and bubbling out in front catching water by the bucket load. After 800 yards I couldn’t run from the truth anymore: my suit was old and stretched out. I had to throw it out or be seriously guilty of public indecency. I got out of the water, changed my suit, and then finished my workout. It was a sad day for my burgundy Nike, but the rest of my swim was fresh and fast, as I no longer had excess drag from the old Nike weighing me down.
We all must do some spring cleaning every now and then, and must let go of some of the things, thoughts, ideas, and lifestyles that we once loved but have since outgrown, or have outstretched us. These identities of our past often drag us and slow us down, much like my burgundy Nike. It is our obligation to ourselves to throw away these old suits and old false identities if we want to live life as our best selves.