When No One's Watching

"It's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.” - Francis Bacon

I'm watching the snow fall in the mountains of Western North Carolina after having just done something for the very first time: I practiced yoga on my own. Forty-five minutes, no teacher, no DVD, no book, no guide. Just me and my body and my breath.

Although I've been taking regular yoga classes each week for over a year, I've been hesitant to move through more than a few compulsory post-run stretches. Which poses do I do? How do I move from step to step? How will I know if I'm doing it right? How can I concentrate without someone else taking all of the responsibility?

Today, I chose to acknowledge all of those doubts and move forward anyway. I was reminded that it's exactly what we do when no one's watching that makes the difference. It's what defines the families that successfully graduate from Genesis Home's Family Matters Program from those who don't. It's what separates the Genesis Home kids who will break the cycle of their family's poverty from those who won't. It's what draws the line connecting the hill repeats and weight sessions and t-pace 100s and isolated leg training and sometimes muddled yoga we do now to how we race later. In our training, in the world, in our lives, what we do when no one will necessarily know is where it always begins.