Stay Soft

The art of remaining open under duress

In a world that wants you to “Stay Hard,” I prefer to embrace softness in search of celebration.

For whatever reason, “toughness” makes me feel small, solo, and scared.

Where toughness might scold you to accept pain and prove you are worthy, softness assumes strength and sees discomfort as a vibrant sign of opportunity.

It took years to identify the spiral I’d stumble down as a race approached. The pressure of the chance at hand led me toward tension even as my stride and lungs longed to flow smoothly.

Toughness insists that a moment will come in which all your dreams will hinge when you must prove that you’re able with perfection.

Softness accepts that races are composed of a thousand instances of effort, a speckled tapestry of highs and lows.

The audacity of softness is a willingness to endure aching quad pain or a discouraging split and remain open to the opportunity of your next step.
Over and again.

After years I learned that under the pressure of a race week I thrive when leaning on others. When reaching out, keeping my eyes up and heart open to the positive energy and opportunity at hand.

Where toughness sees fans scream expectantly, a soft heart accepts the rattle in their voice as a guttural vibration of how much they want to see you succeed.

Yet maintaining a soft heart amid the madness takes practice.
It demands audacity.
And it asks that you stare straight into searing pain or piercing hail and smile.

Soft heart, Full send.

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This first appeared as a post on Instagram in April.

I’m playing with the idea of bringing some of my writing from over there to here so that it’s easier to come back to and not just stuck in the endless feed.

Thanks for reading friends,

Peter