I Quit

I quit!  The words echoed in my head, but thankfully not my heart.  I looked at the sixty six steps and thought about how much I hated my trainer right now.  This was only my fourth time going up and my legs felt like lead.  I had six more sets of up and down the stairs to go.  At this point I was wondering if I would either pass out from exhaustion or just plain give up.  Come on you can do it.  For a moment, I thought I heard the still soft voice of God whispering in my heart to continue on.  I looked back to see it was only my partner looking just as winded as I was.  Yet the little motivation I was given spurred me on to try for another and another until my set of ten was done. 

I swore I wasn’t coming back.  At least that was what I said in my head.  Three weeks later I’m still here and stair seven is the one that is trying me.  I went from wanting to give up on four to seven.  It was a little accomplishment but one nonetheless.  If the exercise wasn’t bad enough my diet was even more trying.  I fought the good fight with Rihanna’s song “cake” playing in my head. Chips and cookies were now my mortal enemies.  However, little by little I was able to get more and more into eating healthier and putting behind me  the foods that haunted me in my sleep but would have given me a permanent sleep if did not let them go.

I hoped after all this exercising and eating healthier my daily routine would be easier.  The fountain of energy I needed so badly did not seem to flow the way I had hoped it would.  I had slipped up with my diet but I kept at it.  There were days I wanted to just crash on my desk and sleep all day. What was the point of all this, I thought.  It seemed my mountain of papers would not subside and I felt more and more tired with exercising and the late nights with my newborn when he could not sleep.

My partner did not have it any easier than I did. After every work out, pain would be her counselor for the next two days until our next session.  Yet she continued on. I was inspired and did not listen to my head, but my heart which told me it was worthwhile continuing.

The pounds did not magically drop off.  I lost some weight but found myself eventually with a whole lot more energy. I could run a little further than I could before and push myself harder.  The diet is an off again on again battle, but I am determined to win.  If I had given up like I wanted, although I am not to the end of my journey, I wonder if I would have made it this far.  The exercise is still trying and the diet a challenge but I see the progress I have made. I am glad I made an effort to begin my journey.

A Moment of Clarity

A quote from Chinese philosopher Laozi states “a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” A famous bible quote states the race is not for the swift but he who endures to the end. These words seem so easy to say until we are in the process of attaining our own personal goals. Yet their message still applies.

If a goal we set were easily attainable it would not be an ambition. The things we desire most in our hearts are the things that will both test us and take the most out of us to accomplish. God does not allow us to go through trying times just to hurt us but to also reveal to us our weaknesses and give us an opportunity to make them strengths.  However a lot of times we have the sixty six steps syndrome.  We see our goals coming to an end. We are on step sixty and because we are fatigued, or because of the pain we feel at being out of our comfort zones, we give up and never completely get to our desired result.  Yet if we would only persevere for those six extra steps we would reap the benefits of completing our desired goal.

Each time we complete a goal it gives us encouragement to try again or do something new. It shows us that even the things we thought were obstacles can become opportunities.  It also gives us the tools we can pass onto someone else in achieving their own goals if only by a word of reassurance.  It also helps us to gauge ourselves so we can set realistic goals we can accomplish as we push forward.  I encourage you today to add to the phrase “I quit”, the words will not.  Learn to say to yourself and others I will not quit and be grateful for each moment of life you are given and learn to be everyday a Beacon of Light.

Beam of Light for the Week 

A word of exhortation can be a drop of water in an arid desert.  Share a word of encouragement today for you never know how dry some of our souls are just for a little encouragement to go on.