Showing posts with label perseverance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perseverance. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christian Kryptonite

   Every person has a weakness. No, make that weaknesses. Chinks in the armor. Cracks in the foundation. Gaps in the wall. Bending points. Breaking points. And often we are caught by surprise at the proverbial "final straw" that ultimately causes us to explode or implode. Oh, its doesn't necessarily mean your life is over, or that you'll head out on a wild shooting spree at the local mall. It doesn't mean you'll hop the next flight to Cancun and hide under a palm tree with an iced beverage for a month or two (though that one does sound tempting!)


   In reality, bending to the point of snapping may mean you quietly lose your steam, your passion in life. It means you give up, give in and give yourself over to something just as deadly as overt sin. You succumb to the curse of mediocrity, a fatal disease which relegates you to an almost drone-like existence. It doesn't kill you like a sniper's bullet, or take you out in a millisecond like a roadside bomb. Nope. It eats away at you like a cancer, a little bit every day.


   As fallible humans, we forget how fragile life is, and how weak we really are. We can only see ourselves for who we truthfully are when we're under the stress, weight and burden that life heaves on top of us. Finances. Anxiety. Family problems. Relationship struggles. Job or career frustrations. And we wake up one day and decide we're tired of carrying the load and fighting the battle.


   So where will your strength come from? An "iron will"? A positive attitude? Some philosophical Zen mind trick? Or something better, deeper and more practical and substantive?


We are not as strong as we think we are. Even hammers can bend.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Keep Pedaling

I chose to ride for 2 hours today along the beautiful but often challenging Arkansas River Trail. While my college son blazed by me on his fixed-gear road bike, I kept my usual pace, my brain able to focus only due to the music mix in my ears.

I find that in any long-distance endeavor, perseverance is a key factor . . . maybe THE key factor. Personally, I hate long distances, and I find that particularly on steep inclines my lungs begin hating me. And i hear that zombie growl within telling me what a wimp I really am. It describes to me in my spirit the awesome feeling I would experience if I'd just pull over for a nap under that big oak tree for a while.

Quit and rest. Or pedal and bring more pain. One brings me solace and shade. But the latter brings me progress and distance. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to stop.

But I kept pedaling.

Take that, zombie.