Before I begin up the mountain, I pause and ask myself, What kind of hike it will be today?

It’s a rhetorical question. I can’t know the answer. It might be easy. It might be difficult. I might feel as if I’m flying up the mountain effortlessly. I might need to stop halfway up to catch my breath. I have no idea what the day has in store.

Every day is different. Every day my body is different. My breath is different. My head is different. The conditions of the world are different. There have been days when I could sprint up this mountain. There have also been days when I could lie in my room, hardly able to climb out of the bed.

What kind of hike will it be? It depends on so many things.

The other day I was reading an article about Eliud Kipchoge, the marathon runner who beat his own world record in the Berlin Marathon. His world and personal best marathon time is now 2 hours, 1 minute, and 39 seconds. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

And he made it look easy. Not in the sense that it wasn’t a difficult thing to accomplish. But easy in the sense that he had found ease in the process. He found his own comfortable running stride. That day.

Not far behind Kipchoge was marathoner, Keira D’Amato. She is also a record holder, and although she clocked in at an impressive 2:21:48, this race was not a personal best for her. When asked about her run she said, ‘Today wasn’t my best day ever, but it was the best I could do today.’

When I teach yoga I often talk about how our bodies are different every day. Some days our bodies and minds are more flexible than others. Same days our breath is smoother and deeper than others. Some days our muscles are stronger than others. Not every day is our best day, or a great day. But every day is an opportunity for us to do the best we can with what we have… that day.

What kind of hike will it be? It will the best hike that it can be, today.