by: Katya Carlson
photo by: Laura Rae Photography
The last year has been good to me. Growth is what it gave me. I see growth and want to share it, and want to give my own experience, in the hope that someone can find growth in their own life.
In 2017 I started going to Alchemy and it changed my life. In the physical, but most importantly in the mental. I realized that a lot of the reason wasn’t just because my body got stronger, but it was because as my body grew strength, so did my mind, and my ideas, and my outlook, and my purpose. When I look back on the last year, it seems that it can be summed up by the words “fall, root, rise.” You have to go through struggle to find strength.
Working out just happens to be a convenient metaphor for me to learn the value of struggle. I have never felt weaker, more vulnerable, more incapable, more scared than when I feel my body hit complete fatigue or exhaustion, or the crippling desire to just collapse when it seems unbearable, but that’s where I learned there is beauty. It’s in that very moment that you get a choice, a choice to keep going regardless of your fear of failure, and when you push past that feeling of weakness is where you find your true strength, and when you feel weak, is when you truly have the opportunity to grow. So you do it. You do it again and again and again and again, until you can’t anymore, and then you do it one more time.
That’s what life is. Life is not perfect, or easy, or simple, and it will test you, it will push you. It’s okay to feel vulnerable, and weak, and afraid, and to fail, but to quit is the greatest loss. You were created for so much more, and just because you may feel small or weak, does not mean that you are not worthy or capable. You are human.
My hope for anyone reading this is that in life when you feel failure is inevitable, push past that fear, feel it, and then know that you are more. Life is never perfect, but it is always good. Find failure, feel weak, and let yourself grow.
“People too, must fall, root, rise, in order to bloom.” –rk
Katya is an avid and committed lover of all dogs. She’s what we call a “weekend warrior” – her ideal weekend consisting of a good workout followed by a brunch that could save lives, spending time with her boyfriend Cray, and spending time in the city.
