Life is Like a Really Hard Workout

All throughout high school and college, being active was natural, easy and accessible; however, a marriage, two babies and an international move later have made for some serious obstacles in my quest to find my (fit) self again.  For the several weeks, I have been working really hard adding exercise back into my everyday routine.  It hasn't been easy, but it is slowly happening.

I've been experimenting with Tabata, CrossFit workouts and circuit training which I am finding to work well and the time passes quickly (which is a plus).  I have had two weeks where four days a week was all I could manage and I had my superwoman week where I worked out six days... I just keep telling myself a few days a week are better than none.  This has taken some true commitment.  As often times with work, my mommy duties, home-keeping responsibilities, etc. I find myself beginning my workout about 7:30pm or 8:00pm each night.  There are evenings after putting the girls in bed that all I want to do is crawl into my own bed, but I am lacing up my sneakers and a-hem, "gettin' ir done"

For you fitness gurus, I know three weeks is nothing.  I know I have miles to go, but daily, I can feel myself getting stronger... I can manage one more pushup, two more seconds in my plank hold, or I can squat a little deeper.  The workouts aren't getting any easier, I am just getting stronger.  

So, where am I going with all this?

I have learned a lot about many things in the past three years, but as I have mentioned before, God usually has to break things down into "dummy mode" for me to understand.  The other night, as I lay panting on the floor after a killer buns and thighs workout, God said to me, "Ya know Kristi, life is like a really hard workout".  (Insert confused look on face here.)  I honestly said to myself, "What? Well now that's dumb."  However, that sentence has been stuck in my head for a few days now and just today I begin to write this blog, He started breaking it down for me.  

Life is like a really hard workout because...

It's not always enjoyable.

Let's face it, there are moments in which life just stinks.  It does.  We don't wake up everyday with smiles plastered on our faces and whistling.  There are times and tasks in our lives that we wish we could just skip over or fast forward.

Sometimes it is really hard and you just want to stop and quit.

We experience moments where life seems unbearable.  Moments where the weight we carry seems unmanageable.  We feel as though we are bending under the weight and close to breaking.  In these moments, our legs feel like jello, our arms like mush and we can't seem to catch our breath.  We long to do nothing more than to turn off the video, drop our weights, walk away and never look back.

We get tired.  

Sometimes, we feel as though we just can't keep going.  Our body, mind, spirit, and soul are just give out.  We can't seem to muster the strength to go through one more set, no matter how hard we try.

We feel discouraged about our lack of results and progress.

We feel like we're giving it our all and then some and yet nothing seems to be changing.  When we look in the mirror, we still have the same trouble zones.  We are still are in the same place we were, and things looks exactly the same. We feel discouraged that we aren't changing faster and/or that things aren't happening like we expected.  We find ourselves in a plateau.

We question why we're even trying.

There are days we find ourselves questioning why we do what we do.  Why do we wake up at 5am everyday to go to a place of work where we feel no one appreciates us.  Why do we put forth so much effort when no one notices or even cares.  Why do we bust our rear ends to make changes and to do things with excellence when we are the only one.  We wonder if there really is a point in doing all we do... in putting in so much effort.

It hurts.

Plain and simple.  There are moments in life where we hurt.  Whether it be the words or treatment of a person you care for, the death of a loved one, a divorce, infidelity, rebellious children... There are situations in life that hurt us deeply.  We ache deep into our core.

There are injuries.

Some of those things that hurt us can also become injuries.  There are things in life that wound us and sometimes it can take weeks, months, or years for us to recover from.  We have to go through therapy, treatment, we have to give it time to heal.  But if we take care of our wounds correctly they will heal.

BUT.....

Our aches and pains will reside and lessen.

As we grow in Him, we will notice that the aches and pains we had when beginning are less.  Just as our muscles must tear to grow, the things that have torn us have in reality made us stronger, more resistant to future stress and pressure.

It changes us.

We don't stay the same.  Life changes us.  If we allow, it changes us for the better.  We become different, a better version of ourselves.  Every obstacle, trial and tribulation are simply a form to take us to the next level.

It has benefits.

Along with all of life's messiness, it has benefits.  In life we find laughter and love.  We make friendships and sometimes find our soul mates.  We travel and explore, we raise children and families... we live.

We get better and stronger.

But, with every day that passes...we get better.  We grow stronger.  Every day we are able to go a little further, push a little harder, handle a little more weight of the world.  Life doesn't become any easier, we just become stronger and better prepared to handle it.  

So, if you're just starting this "workout"or even if you've been at it for a while, don't give up.  You're stronger than you think and you have the best personal trainer around, Jesus.