Hang in There

This was the theme of this Sunday at Church, to go with the Gospel of Luke's parable of the Persistent Widow. As soon as I heard Fr. Joe Aquino mention the theme, I knew in my heart it would become a blog post. Jesus tells this parable:

 “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’"  (Luke 18:1-8)

I'm known for busting barriers, not acknowledging limits, and being an overcomer. Like the widow in the Gospel, I too am persistent. 

Earlier this year, I got to fulfill a decade-long dream of completing a high ropes course and power pole. I trained for it and I was ready. I did well on the first 7 elements. Then came the 8th, a series of swinging 2 x 4s. Fatigued and tired, my weaker left hand had a hard time holding onto the rope, my right side was fatigued from dominating the balance, and I couldn't stabilize myself. At one point I fell and started crying....not for falling, but because I was afraid they would make me stop and I had my heart set on finishing. My sweet friend Harry picked me up and hoisted me back on the platform to try again. Still struggling, I had a ropes facilitator in front of me, friends cheering below me, and a Coach looking out for me...which got me a SECOND ropes facilitator helping me FINISH the ropes course!

Lately, I've been making this the bar for challenges. I wonder if I had the heart, determination, and will that I did that day, then why can't I channel that now to accomplish these goals?!

Fun. 

I have friends that would run all day long if they could. No thank you! I would rather do a ropes course than run any day and twice on Sunday. My favorite training equipment is the TRX. Now, that doesn't mean they are always available to me, but the Fun Factor is Real. 

Focus

I think back to the day and every feeling and every thought was aimed at conquering that ropes course. I didn't have my phone. I wasn't distracted by life's concerns. My focus was entirely there. I was ENGAGED in the exercise. 

My Coach and friend Danny Cahill (You might have heard of him...Winner, Biggest Loser, Season 8) and many of his fellow contestants talked about the opportunity they had on the show to solely focus on themselves and getting healthy. They didn't have to worry about their jobs or feeling bad about the time they were losing with their families, because they were gaining their life back!

Jesus doesn't mention all the other things that widow might have been doing while she was pleading with the judge. That's where her focus and her energy were placed. 

Another inspiration to me is Financial Health expert, Dave Ramsey. He advises people to go after good health with "gazelle-like intensity". 

Whichever image you like, the pole, the ropes, the Biggest Loser ever, or the gazelle...

"So long, status quo. I think I'm letting go. You make me wanna be brave."  Nicole Nordeman 

Hasty Reading

As an Elementary Special Education teacher, I see a LOT of difficulties in reading, whether it's in attacking a word, reading fluently, or comprehending what they've read. Today, I had my own reading troubles...

Last night, I posted a simple question on a Facebook wall. Today, I got the notification of a comment, and the first words I see are: Patience is a virtue. I was ticked!

I threw my phone back in my bag. I know patience is my greatest strength, but from my perspective, my post did not call for a reminder of patience.  Besides, I was being helpful! Fine! I won't be helpful. Yeah, thats productive. If I had left it there, I would have missed some crazy blessings, and shortchanged both of us.

I went back a few minutes later, and saw that I had let anger take over and missed the rest of the post. It was delightful!

My kids do this too. They omit words, skip entire sentences, or even pretend to read, and then their comprehension suffers. My comprehension suffered because I didn't read through or hear the person out!

I proceeded to eat some humble pie and apologize to the person. Would they have known I was mad? Not initially. They may have wondered why they  weren't hearing from me. Through this, God granted humility, forgiveness, and the opening of a really good conversation!

Anger closes doors. Joy, love, and forgiveness open them.