Persevering through Resistance

[pinit]

Two days ago, I ran a marathon. That’s 26.2 miles of….insanity. This makes my third one, and it’s something I never, ever would have dreamed of doing. I fell in love with running, one step at a time. First a 5k, then a 10k, then a half, then shoot, why not a full?

Along the way, I learned to deal with resistance. You face resistance every time lace up your shoes and head out the door, or to the treadmill.

I’m too tired. I don’t want to get out of bed. It’s raining. It’s too cold. It’s too hot. I have a cold.

Over the miles, I’ve learned to persevere through resistance. Resistance happens not just with running, but with any worthy, healthy goal.

Why is it so much easier to sit around and eat chips, ice cream, and watch tv than run a few miles, write a book, or eat a salad? That’s definitely a question I want to ask God when I get to heaven.

As I ran the marathon, I had way less than ideal situations. It’s not a day I would have chosen to run. I hit mile 11, and the wind was fierce. I’m talking about knock-you-over, push-you-back, empty-your-lungs kind of wind. I ran headfirst into the wind for miles.

I nearly stopped. But I knew my family was waiting for me. They were positioned at key points along the route, and they were expecting me to come run by. They even had an air horn to cheer me on (or scare me back to life!).

As if the rain wasn’t enough, at mile 21 it started to pour. Sheets of water flowed from the clouds. Sweat rinsed down my face, burning my eyes. I sloshed it away with a soggy hand, my shoes now squishing in the rain. Five long, long miles to go.

At this point in the race I remembered there are two types of resistance: the kind you can control, and the kind you can’t.

You can’t control the wind or the rain or what other people do or say.

You can however, control your own attitude and actions.

It’s like the serenity prayer says:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.

So, I changed what I could. I controlled my attitude, looked up at the beautiful fall scenery now glistening in the rain, and continued to move my feet, one painful step at a time.

It’s been two days, and I still walk up and down the stairs like an old lady. I don’t know if I’ll ever run another full marathon. But I definitely know how to persevere.

Any worthy goal will face resistance. How do you need to persevere this week? Put one foot in front of the other, and look for the things you can control, and let go of the rest.

Tweetables:

[tweetherder]Any worthy goal will meet resistance. How can you persevere?[/tweetherder]

[tweetherder]How do you respond to resistance? Look for things you can control (yourself) let go of the rest.[/tweetherder]

photo courtesy of cienpies.net via sxc.hu. text added by amelia