After my morning trail run yesterday with my dear friend, Karen, I felt as though we had reached a certain level of comfort and ease. Don’t get me wrong, going up that first hill always feels like I have not exercised in years (why??), but after several months showing up for one another three or four times a week, it was becoming, overall, less demanding, dare I say, rote.

For me, these early morning runs are not just for my physical health. Lively and transparent conversations pepper the whole hour excursion, not only to ward off snakes, coyotes and other wild creatures (‘effin nature), but also to delve into our lives, issues, relationships, and dreams. It is a true physical – therapy combination.

But I felt like it (and I) was ready for the next level. This thought kept permeating my mind…all day. And for whatever reason, yesterday was a rough day. My kids and I were not getting along. I couldn’t get certain work issues off my desk. My relationships with significant others in my life seemed stagnant, even repeating the past. And I felt like nothing was moving forward, that we were all stuck swimming in the same bowl of crappy soup, having the same conversations, arguments, and dealing with the same issues that have been going on for months, years even. It was all so frustrating, so undemanding of any creative thought or action, so, so, so, rote.

I was having this thought, once again, driving to the trail this morning. And once again, I felt like I was going to die hiking up that first hill. Arrrgggh! I powered through it, like I do. Karen and I talked, like we do. We ran the flats, hiked up the hills, and walked the down hills careful not to slip and fall on asses, like we do (like I’ve done). At the top of the trail, we stopped to look at the beautiful view of the West Valley, like we do.

On the way back down, however, something shifted. On one of the “up” hills, Karen took off running, and I was right behind her. A whole new level of power, of energy emerged…running up the hills, hard and fast and continuing the run until the next down did not make me feel like I was going to die. Instead, this sudden burst fed my need to achieve more, to demand more, to break away from that which was familiar.

We upped the ante. We created a shift in our routine that will force it to change forever. On my way home, I become conscious of the reality that I need to burst out and take off on the other “up” hills in my life. That I can either keep feeling the struggle every time I encounter one, and just power through it like I usually do, or I can create my own surge, run it and overtake it. By demanding more. By breaking the rote routines and habitual ways of thinking. By getting out of my comfort zone and discovering the power that shows up, when the ante is upped.