Reflections on Endurance

by Orly Wahba

“Write out a manageable goal for yourself and stick to it. Hold yourself accountable by journaling your experience and giving yourself a set date you expect to see a change.”

This month’s Act of Kindness is inspired by my very own endurance experience that I’m going through.

Just 11 days ago, as we were about to start the month of endurance, I set out on a journey of self discovery and reinvention. I asked myself, what would happen if I focus on something I want to draw into my life by proclaiming it loudly for the world to hear every day over the course of 40 days. It wasn’t enough to simply know what I want in my heart, I needed to combine it with an action plan, the courage to be vulnerable and raw, and above all the willingness to have others hold me accountable. The concept of endurance spans across many areas. Perhaps it’s most clearly understood in the context of athleticism. After all, an athlete is constantly pushing themselves to new limits. But endurance is something we all need to tap into. The ability to endure pain, hardship and the rough patches that come about from simply living life.

As some of you know, I recently made a big move in my life. I left my home in Brooklyn of 35 years and decided to head to Jerusalem. There are many things I love about Jerusalem but my number 1 is the Western Wall (AKA Kotel). It’s a place that attracts people from across the globe regardless of faith, race or ethnicity. It’s a place of hope, reflection and symbolizes endurance. A single wall that provides hope to millions that regardless of how bleak a situation, you can always overcome. There is a tradition of visiting the Kotel everyday for 40 days as a means of drawing something into your life. It’s not the place alone, it’s the action of committing to doing something for 40 consecutive days and keeping what you want at the forefront of your thoughts. Simply doing this, opens us up to seeing the opportunities to make our dreams and hopes come into fruition. As I debated what I should specifically focus on drawing into my life it would have been much simpler to make it a professional goal but instead I decided to focus on something a little closer to home. Building a family has always been important to me, but finding your life partner forces you to be really vulnerable. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve opened myself up to vulnerability in tremendous ways through Life Vest Inside, but developing a life long relationship requires us to be vulnerable in an entirely different way, a way in which I perhaps avoided up until now. But no more.

As I hit the LIVE button on my very first day out of 40, my heart was pounding. To be honest, even though I am entering day 12, my heart still pounds. Even writing this has me quivering in fear. And so I am proclaiming that that thing I want to draw into my life is a spouse, someone who will truly be a life partner in every which way! These 40 days have up until this point made me step out of my comfort zone in ways I never imagined. Each day I spend 2 hours going to and from the Kotel and creating a LIVE video to chronicle my journey and invite others along. That has most probably been the hardest part because I now set in place something that is keeping me accountable to follow through until the end, to endure regardless of the hardship and growing pains that have come about. Taking on this endurance exercise has allowed me to push myself personally to the limits and I know that what will come from it will be nothing short of amazing.

So why do I mention this? When we think of beginning our own endurance exercise, setting a distance or a time frame is vital. For me, it’s 40 days and as I count down or count up – I feel myself getting closer to my goal.

As you determine your own goal I encourage you to give yourself a time frame and perhaps think of an interesting way that will hold you accountable. Sharing my personal journey on my FB page has been incredible. The love, support encouragement is fueling me to keep going, keep believing and keep striving to find new ways to step out of my comfort zone and step out of my own way. Sometimes, drawing positive things into our lives simply requires us to get out of own way!

I wish you luck on your endurance exercise, whatever it may be! And I welcome you to join me for mine! You can check my daily videos on my personal FB page.