“Just Do it”.
Well-said Nike.
I can talk all that I want about choosing love, focusing on what I can do and choosing to be grateful for it, but there comes the time where I need to just do it. Thinking or talking about what I can do certainly isn’t the same as doing it. Been there. Done that. I complained to my husband for a year how I really should get back into swimming because it helped my breathing so much and it felt so good. It took me a year to actually do that, but man I felt great and swam a mile once a week for a month until everything just shut down. And how many times have I said “tomorrow I can start eating healthier again? Let me just finish out my five month love affair with sugar and processed carbs today”. I know that I am not actually going to reap the benefits of the action until I DO IT.
As our twenty dollar guy, Mr. Ben Franklin, said, “Why put off until tomorrow what I can do today?”
With that being said, I began my own “do-a-thon” today. Why wait until Saturday? I woke up early and declared this day an “I can” day.
- I can write in my kids’ journals. So I did.
- I can run eight miles. So I did.
- I can express thankfulness for so many blessings. So I did.
- I can read with my children. So I did.
- I can eat healthy. So I did.
- I can go outside and enjoy the sunshine with my kids. So I did.
- I can text my friends and family. So I did.
- I can record myself reading my daughter’s favorite Eric Carle books in Spanish to bless others. So I did.
- I can do 50 push-ups. So I did.
- I can teach my children in a variety of fun ways. So I did.
- I can tell my husband how much I love him and how glad I am that he’s my guy. So I did.
- I can sing worship songs with my kids. So I did.
- I can sit and rest and snuggle with my kids. So I did.
I pray that God will give me an attitude that wants to persevere with endurance this race that He has set out for me. I pray that tomorrow I will have the strength and willpower to stay away from the destructive cycle of negativity and instead declare it another “I can” day, and the day after that, and the one after that, and so on. That’s the mental power I have been granted during my marathons: I tell myself, “I can do one more mile” and then “I can do one more”, and again. I love marathons and the idea of starting at one point and ending at another; I love finding that right pace of an extended period of time and getting a new personal best and breaking my last best time. I love that I know I can give all that I have for X-amount of time then I cross through the finish and eat, rest and that’s that. I understand how my fitness class participants feel when they want to know how many more squats or push-ups, or how many more minutes of class. It’s helpful to know how many more or how much longer, so that we can measure out our effort and know when we can stop.
However, I think that this so-called “do-a-thon” needs to be different. The truth is that I don’t think we should stop “choosing love”, “doing what we can” and being thankful for it. As my favorite verse says, “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season, we will reap if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9.
I think that we participate in an ongoing marathon every day that we are on this earth. I know that it’s daunting to think about, but life is really more like an ultra-marathon. As long as 26.2 miles is, it has nothing on life! We can’t measure it, because we don’t know how long it is or how the course will be up ahead. There’s no use in fretting over what we can’t control and what we don’t know. As Jesus says, “Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” Matthew 6:34. So, what I’ve decided to continue this do-a-thon indefinitely; I hope to wake up and declare each day an “I can” day and, with a thankful heart, do only what I can do that day.
Keep going strong!
AJ +<3
AJamil Fitness4Life 