Life is not about reducing our pain to nothing, it is about embracing pain and challenge as an invitation to rise and grow. - Alexi Pappas

The most important thing we can do with regard to our goals is to have integrity: Simply put, we should always want to try our best.

My brain created a personal law. […] The brain’s purpose is self-preservation. But the problem is the brain goes into overdrive and starts recognizes the personal law in places it shouldn’t. […] When we create a personal law in response to trauma, the law can become hardwired into your brain so strongly, that when you encounter even vaguely similar situations much later, your mind reacts with irrational intensity.

Like losing your virginity, you can talk about the marathon all you want but it’s impossible to really know what it’s like until you actually do the thing.