Thursday, August 14, 2008

Picking yourself back up

OK, so all I have to say is watching those young athletes compete in the Olympics is an AMAZING life lesson. When they fell, without blinking an eye, they got right back up and started again, smoothly, calmly, collectedly. I Love this. Whenever I make a mistake, I like to marinate in it, soak right up in those feelings of guilt and "if onlys". I'm not saying Alicia Sacromone (sp?) isn't experiencing a few of her own "if onlys" but the way that the automatic response was to pick right back up and get going again. Powerful. If we can all train ourselves to make our first response to be pick right up and move on, what better lives I think we could live.

I definitely have lived life with the "if onlys" and the "what ifs" and I am now slowly starting to realize that isn't a real quality life. The fact of the matter is, you cannot undo what you have already done or said. But you CAN control your response and what you do after that.

So instead of "IF ONLY my thighs weren't so large, I could run faster" how about:
"Wow, I bet my thighs are more toned than they were a month ago!" and

"IF ONLY I hadn't eaten that pizza last night" how about:
"I wonder what my heart would look like on the inside if I NEVER exercised at all?" and

"IF ONLY I didn't have to work out side the home I could go exercise any time I wanted." how about:
"Thank goodness I have a job that keeps me disciplined and on a schedule, and for forcing me to work out in the morning when it is cooler."

So those are some thoughts for the day. Change your mind, change your life. I am really starting to believe that is true. There is something to that "renewing your mind" that Paul talks about in Ephesians. Thank God that we have the Holy Spirit to be our helper in this journey, otherwise the changing of the mind would never be possible in the first place.

And finally, I did the 2.7 miles this morning. It was GREAT.

1 comment:

kr said...

good thoughts -- excellent reminder for me!

aunt kathy #2