Did you ever think you’d be where you are, the person you are, at this age? I didn’t. Nope. I for sure thought I’d be skinny, rich, and famous. Okay, maybe not rich, or famous, but certainly skinny like I used to be in my 20’s. I was fit. Even at 7 months pregnant I was running 3 miles a day and donning a Marine Corps uniform with the best of them. Four weeks postpartum I was back to full duty on the rifle range so I could qualify for promotions. Yep, I was pretty fabulous back then. Now? NOT SO MUCH. I’m feeling every ounce of pain from years of wear and tear on my body. The Marine Corps was just the start. Bad knee, bad shins, bad lower back, bad language, it caused it all.
Move into the second phase of adulthood and I’m now overweight, over-stressed, and over everything that doesn’t involve making me happy. Coffee makes me happy. Chocolate…that makes me happy too. My family makes me the happiest. I don’t get paid to love my family, coffee, or chocolate though. So I find ways to motivate myself for the daily grind. Writing is a huge part of this motivation, and I’ve since added working out because I’m in the 40s club and need to survive to my 50s. That’s the main motivation for surviving this October fitness challenge I find myself in. There’s one thing that keeps me focused on survival.
You know what it is. Faith. That’s the main title in my blog, folks. Faith. It’s what this is all about. Having faith. I have some friends who are skeptical of God. I know, right?! But it’s true. I’m a gullible person who has faith in people to do good even though they “don’t believe in God.” You know why? Because regardless of their belief they have faith. That’s right. FAITH. Faith in themselves, and in the greater good. They have faith in me. That’s pretty impressive for some folks who don’t believe in God to have faith in someone who does. They trust. They support. They love. It’s amazing how separate ideals and beliefs have similar paths in faith.
But when it comes to surviving with faith, what are we surviving? In the end we all have the same result. Not to be morbid, but we will all die when it’s our time. Because of my faith I’m okay with that. I’ve been at peace with my pending death since I gave my heart to Jesus and rectified some regrets. I tell my loved ones I love them. I thank God for what I have and don’t have every day. It may be the last day to do so, so I make it count. That’s part of why some of the changes in my career and personal life are happening. It’s not my ideal change, its’ actually a very painful heart breaking change because I love what I do and I’m good at it. But it’s a walk in faith that I’m willing to take in order to be a better healthier version of myself for my family and for our future.
It’s part of the survival. God doesn’t give us easy. Easy is for non-believers who think they’re getting a good deal even though they’re settling for less. Like fat pills that melt the double chocolate fudge brownie sundae off your thighs. They may work…temporarily, but the results don’t last with fat pills alone. God gives us challenges to grow, people to learn from, reasons to want to survive for better than just “a good deal”. Like a consistent healthy lifestyle gives us the lasting results we want. I’m a survivor. I’ve survived a lot more than I should have in my adult life. It’s not about WHAT we survive or WHY. It’s about the HOW.
You can ask yourself a lot of “how” questions and get a lot of different answers. Mine: “HOW did I survive these things? HOW does it help others? HOW can I be a better person because of it? HOW-insert rhetorical question here-?” Well duh….Faith.
Along with my October Fitness Challenge that I've landed in, I'm putting myself through a FIT&FAITH challenge as well. The rules are simple if you want to join my challenge.
1. Say at least one positive thing a day to yourself, and to someone else, anyone.
2. Do your squats (10 a day x the day so tomorrow is day 3x10=30 squats)
3. Conduct one random act of kindness towards a stranger (like opening a door for them, etc.)
4. When in doubt, HAVE FAITH EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT
#gottahavefaith #survivingmy40s #octoberchallenge
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