Fitness or futility?

Sisyphus is condemned for eternity to roll a stone to the top of a mountain, and each time he gets the stone almost to the top, it rolls all the way back down again.  Is this your Monday experience?  Do you know that desperate feeling of futility as everything you so carefully planned comes spectacularly unravelled and you fell like you never really make any progress at all?

Contrast this with the story of Jacob.  He is about to meet his brother for the first time in many years and is terrified that his brother will destroy him and all he has (because he cheated him badly many years ago).  In the evening he meets God and wrestles with him all night.  Neither side seems to be winning, but Jacob refuses to let his adversary go until he blesses him.  God does bless Jacob, affirms him for not giving up and Jacob goes on to be very prosperous.

Many times in my life it feels like I am engaged in a wrestle which lasts the night of many months, but I think that when I have not given up, things do work out, (often better than I would have imagined).  An example of this at BeLife is our expertise in BI Publisher and our suite of pre-built reports which was borne from the determination to discover a better way of getting information from Oracle.  In my triathlon training, I feel the pain of a hard ride disappears seconds after its conclusion and the next day my body is fitter.

Postscript.  I recently returned from a training camp where I experienced more pain than ever in my determination to regain my fitness and to keep up with my team mates.  I only recently discovered that my wheel bearings were seized, and a simple mechanical repair has gained me an easy extra 2mph speed.  Sometimes it’s just as well to stop pushing and check out your kit too!

Notes:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus