THE CLIMB.

I’ll give you a minute to sing the chorus of the Miley Cyrus song in your head.

Oh, is that just me who does that?

I love comedy. LOVE it. I grew up listening to stand up comedy and watching Steve Martin movies. I grew up loving The Jerk, Sgt. Bilko, Coming to America, The Wedding Singer, and other comedy classics. If you’re close to me, you know I love to laugh and I love making people laugh. I love helping to script comedic productions. I love acting in comedy roles. I often think in comedy bits. As a young married woman, I ran out of the closet dressed as Quail Man from the old cartoon Doug. It’s a random world inside my brain with very specific and weird references. I’m good at it. I think? When we play that game “in a completely other life, what would your dream job be?” I always say comedian. Maybe like a Tina Fey or Mindy Kaling vibe.

I tend to be someone who goes after things that they want and dream about. So, why haven’t I attempted comedy? The answer is pretty simple. I don’t REALLY want it. I can SAY that I want it. I can dream of the top of the mountain and what it would be like. But I am not willing to climb it. I’m not willing to accept the pain that comes with anything that brings happiness. Everything we want in life requires pain. Marriage, kids, a house, a job we like, a good body, anything.

I want a good body. I really do. I would love to have a bangin’ physique that makes me feel like I am Gal Gadot. (Seriously, what is it like to wake up looking like that? ACTUAL Wonder Woman?!) I mean, who doesn’t want that? But…it turns out…I am not willing to go through the pain it takes to get that. My dear friend Sandra has the body of a greek goddess. My sister Kayla has had 3 kids and could still flip a car and wear shorts that I couldn’t even attempt as underwear. You know why? Because they are willing to accept the pain. They are willing to accept the climb. I just like to dream about the mountain top.

So when you say you want something, and you fail at it, it’s really not about will power or motivation or whatever ambiguous thing we can’t get our hands around. It’s because we haven’t accepted the pain that comes with it. We are simply not willing to go through the discomfort that is required for that dream. So instead of feeling like a failure, just look at the reality. And if there’s something you want, look at the pain that comes with it. And before attempting that goal, accept that there WILL be pain, and that you CAN deal with it.

See you at the top. Or not. I’m probably not ever going to abs, so if that’s your mountain…Godspeed.