I have learned through the years that we can do anything we set our minds to. Will it be work? Oh yeah. Will it be painful? At times. Will it be worth it? Hope so. We usually don't put much effort into something we are expecting a great outcome from.
Working out and jogging were not something I grew up doing in school or anything I ever really thought about until I was 19. When I was 19 I moved to Arizona and a cousin decided for me that I needed to run with her. I thought this was a joke, it wasn't. She was 17 and was a runner in school. I, on the other hand, thought how hard can it be. So I agreed, not knowing she wanted to run at least a mile. I started off not so fast but doing ok. After about a half a mile I began to fall apart. So my cousin got in front of me and turned around to face me and was my cheerleader to get me to the goal. She would say "you can do it" and I would say "no I can't." I did make it and it led to me going out again to see if I could do it on my own.
From there I began to enjoy jogging and started jogging on the canals. Not long after I started to jog I broke my ankle and had surgery on it. So jogging was out for some time in my life.
I remember trying when I was about 22 to jog around the neighborhood. By then I had gotten married and moved so I didn't have a good area to run. When I finished my ankle swelled up so much I couldn't put my shoe back on. That ended the jogging for many years.
A couple of years back, about 3, I started trying to jog again. I again had moved and now have a great place to run. I started off slowly with a half a mile. Seriously thought I was dying any minute but kept going. After a while of doing this I began to set my sights on a mile then 2 miles then 3 miles. At that time the most I got up to was 4 miles. I had to keep telling myself that I was no different than the next gal that runs. I perfectly healthy and just need to build up to longer distances. This would take time. Now today I'm training for a half marathon, which I never thought would be possible.
My point is through all of this I had to constantly tell myself I could do this. Reminding myself that I could do anything I put my mind to. I believe most things we do in life are 80 to 90% mental and the other physical. I keep telling my body that I can do this.
This method has helped me in so many other areas of my life. Spiritually, I continually tell myself I have faith for this or that and I feel God's strength along the way. In my eating, this is a constant discipline and it's still hard at times but I want to be an example to my children and family on how we need to eat healthy and take care of our bodies since they are the temple.
So I challenge you today to tell yourself that you can do something that you have struggled with in life today and watch yourself accomplish the unthinkable things in life that are so rewarding.
