With January coming to a close, my resolve to stick to my goals seems to dwindle. I am one of those people that love to sit down at the crack of dawn on New Years Day when the household is sleeping; pen and journal in hand. I look back over the year and beat myself up for not losing the 10 lbs, not reading the Bible 365 days and am not any closer to being organized. Then I look at all to be thankful for and write out the next year's goals. As I glanced at my calendar this morning and realized I only have 4 more days to lose 4 more pounds, I started to get a little discouraged. Before I fell into a deep depression and throw in the towel, I decided to take a deep breath and look at all that I did accomplish so far this month.
I started training for a 1/2 marathon. This will be my 3rd time, but the previous ones I ran/walked. This time I am running the whole thing. The furthest I have ever ran is 6.2 miles before training started. I am now up to 10 miles. Besides running, my strength training workouts are right on track. I have some muscle definition in places that I didn't think I would - like my abs! Besides fitness, this month I may have not been in my Bible daily, but my prayer life has improved.
It is so easy for my to go down the trail of negativity with myself. I learned a few years ago that it does absolutely no good. It does not motivate me to get on track. What helps though is looking back at all that is going well. This truly is motivating for me. I am learning that as important as spending time in God's Word, He isn't up in Heaven keeping a tally sheet of how many times a week I read the Bible. What is important is purposefully pursuing a deeper relationship with Him. Some seasons of our lives are crazier than others and He is so gracious to us. He understands. Anyway, I digress...
As a personal trainer, I educate my clients on how important it is to take a rest day each week. Our bodies need the time to repair and build the muscles. I KNOW this. Besides being one of those crazy people that make resolutions, I also keep track of all of my workouts. This past Tuesday, I was so tired and my muscles were so sore. I knew I needed to rest. I looked at my workout calendar and realized I worked out 13 straight days. No wonder! You would think that knowing this I would be happy to rest. I actually felt guilty on top of feeling blah! My mood was grouchy and I didn't make very good food choices. As I layed in bed that night, I learned two things. The first, I am addicted to the endorphins! The other lesson learned is that I am out of balance. Yes, exercise is vital, but so is rest. I wasted this rest day being grouchy. Next week when I have my rest day, I am going to include Jesus. I am going to rest in Him. This is where the balance comes in. There are numerous verses that give us not only permission, but God commands us to rest in the fourth commandment! Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
With only four more days of January, I am exactly where God wants me to be...resting in Him!
