The Return Is the Resistance
By Derek Neighbors on June 2, 2025
🪨 “I do not run, I return. To the place where resolve is chiseled.”
It wasn’t about a run.
It wasn’t about mileage or Strava kudos.
It was about going back to the mountain
not as a tourist,
but as a craftsman.
Back to the work.
Back to the forge.
Tired legs, overcast sky, post-rain desert mist clinging heavy
everything in me wanted to delay,
to rest,
to turn away.
But there’s a place in the world where my grit gets sharpened.
Where I recall who I am,
forge who I’m becoming.
And the only way there is through effort.
Some days we run.
Some days we walk.
But on the best days, we return.
To that place.
Where my resolve is chiseled sharper.
In the forge.
Your forge awaits.
Where do you return to?
