Weak progression...

     I have been consistently pursuing a healthier lifestyle for several months now. This includes but is not limited to: healthier eating, more exercise, more rest, and more "me" time. Aside from just feeling better, my primary motivation is to have better health in general for Andrew's sake. I know the time will come when I will get to spend more time with him and I am not getting any younger. I want the precious time I do get with him to be the best it can be. If he wants to go to the park for four hours I want to be able to "hang" with him. As he gets older he will likely get into other sports or active lifestyle hobbies and I want to be able to do those things with him.

     The progress I have seen in 2014 has been tremendous. It is a direct result of my dedication and consistency. This is also helping my finances, the gym comes out to approximately a dollar a day and so I can redirect money from other "entertainment" activities to chip away at my debt. My debt is another thing that disallows me from seeing Andrew more often. As frustrating as this all is I know these baby steps I am taking are still progress.

     OK I kind of got off track from the purpose of this post!

     So last week I hit personal records just about every day I was in the gym, doing different body parts. It started out Monday when I trained legs with a friend of mine. I lifted close to 50,000 pounds in just over an hour, training with a partner so my rest intervals were increased; 17 sets of nine different exercises. Two hours later when I was at home I had an itch to go running. For anyone that lifts, you know the last thing one should want to do after legs is go running. I pushed myself to go do a quick mile and quick it was! My second fastest mile ever clocking it in at 7:39! I continued on throughout the week by pushing and pulling more weight than I ever have in my life. It was a great feeling. A good friend of mine that is a personal trainer was very encouraging by stating how my body was "turning a corner". It was a great feeling to experience the progress in such dramatic and obvious ways. (Well, it was a great feeling until the DOMS set in, then it was quite a different feeling!) Progress is always a good feeling in any part of life; finances, health, relationships, etc.

     Yesterday I went into the gym to train chest and biceps. I started out with a ten minute warm-up on the elliptical. I felt energized yet tired simultaneously. I thought nothing of it. Then off to begin lifting. I was really struggling, nothing like last week where I felt like I could run through a brick wall. At first I was very frustrated but I quickly remembered that even in my weakness and struggling I was stronger than I was just a few weeks back. In that moment, the Lord spoke directly to my heart.

     Spiritually I have progressed and grown stronger than I have ever been in my life (sound familiar?). Since 2008 I have been consistent in my "Spiritual" training and as result made great strides in that area of my life; not without some falls along the way. Very recently I have stumbled in some areas I had previously defeated and I was very frustrated and discouraged. Recent history has shown my weaknesses completely exposed. But God, shifted my focus to my progress rather than my shortcomings. In that moment where I was so frustrated and confused for struggling with my lift, He showed me that both Spiritually and physically my weakest day is stronger than it was in my past. With a gentle, soft whisper in my ear He reminded me that His mercy, not my sin, is new every day.

     That is not to justify my shortcomings or sin, but rather tell me I am forgiven. To honor God through my prayers and worship and He has redeemed me. All these bunny trails just to say that even weak progression is progress.

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