Why Cold Water❄️ LIke Life, is About Acceptance
I’ve done cold water every day for the past month..
I’ve done ice baths, Cryo therapy, and all versions of cold exposure you can imagine.
Some showers like Chicago, colder than others.
What I’ve learned about the cold water,
and what makes it so powerful is that it’s a lesson in acceptance over all things.
It teaches you, that conditions are a choice,
Conditions can be changed, altered and accepted.
Theres a difference between Conditions and Circumstances.
Circumstances are different.
Circumstances are conditions that CAN’T be changed.
The barrier between the life we want and the life we have are the conditions and circumstances we live with.
Like an NBA prospect having a stroke that alters his life.. (Look up Juaqin Hawkins)
Like a surgical doctor who loses use of his hands (May or may not be Dr. Strange lol)
Now what both of these characters have in common is they had a choice, and they overcame.
Those choices were to blame, sit in anger, shame and resentment,
Or change their framework and be the best they can be, with who they currently are.
We don’t have to wait for life to hand us circumstances to overcome
But how you respond in conditions like cold water is how you’ll respond elsewhere.
Do you jump in and panic?
Do you rage?
Do you control your breath?
Do you get emotional?
Do you wish it was different? (“I hate thisssss”)
Do you minimize the cold water? (“Its just 3 minutes, its just cold water”)
Do you try to fool yourself? (“This ain’t cold!”)
Do you question your decisions?
Do you embrace the terrible conditions?
Do you like the chaos?
I’ve exercised every single one of those responses,
The one that serves me the most, in the cold and in the other parts of life.. is Aceptance.
It’s cold, it will be cold, it will feel cold..
In life, most things just are.. We attach meaning to them.
The rest simply happens..
Your skin getting tight is out of your control,
Your toes getting numb is out of your control
Your hands tingling is out of your control,
You’re there.
You’re choosing adversity, and choosing whether you bitch about it or thrive in it.
Whether you accept it or deny it
When you’re shivering, when you’re grieving about it, when your wincing,
You’re refusing to accept your conditions,
It’s cold.
That’s the fact.
