Over the years I’ve learned that sometimes you just have to punch your way through.
— CAPTAIN JANEWAY. PARALLAX. 48439.7
The word “punch” may derive from a pugilistic sport once popular on Terra, and still practiced on several other pre-technological planets. As the Captain uses it, however, punch is neither violent nor even physical. It’s something we have, not something we do.
“Punch” is a state of mind. It’s the recognition that barriers exist only if we allow them to stop us; that meeting resistance is a sign that we’re making progress; that opposition means we’re on the verge of a breakthrough.
And when we finally do break through, it’s not so much because we’ve beaten the opposition as outlasted it.
The most important characteristic of punch is not raw power. It’s persistence. Overcoming our addictions, or our grief, or our personal flaws, rarely happens in a single swing. It’s a struggle over time—a fight in which we renew our determination every time we’re knocked down, celebrate every moment we manage to stay on our feet, and continuously affirm the meaning it gives our lives.
“Punching our way through” is less about right hooks than the right attitude; less about hammering our opponents than forging our own character. Sometimes the sweetest victory is simply making it to the final bell.
Today I will not back away from the fight. I will stay in the ring, go the distance. I will feel my strength and my joy increase as I finish each daily round.
The above meditation is taken from Going Boldly on Your Inner Voyage © 1999-2004, IF Books.
To purchase your own copy of the book, please click here...