Stronger Since Last September

Many people decide to be “healthy” every year on New Year’s Day. Most of these people end up not lasting more than that day. Or that week. Or that month. 

Other people decide to wait for some radical event in their lives before they sign up for the whole “health” thing. Maybe they are waiting for marriage. Or the death of a loved one springs them onto their various health journeys. Or they might just be waiting to become incredibly, incredibly fat. 

I am not married, nor was it New Year’s, neither was I incredibly fat when I chose to start my own “health stuff.” I just decided to suddenly proclaim myself “that health geek” in the middle of last September.

 And, somehow, I am still going strong in my healthy ways! This September marks my one year “healthy” anniversary. 

But I mean, seriously: No sugar? No soda? Pushups every day? Squats and lunges and bicep curls? What in the world is wrong with me? 

I don’t know if the odd choice of September as a season for a health craze makes me unique. Or just strange. 

Or perhaps insane. 

It could be all of the above. 

Maybe it was something about the blistering September sun that suddenly gave me a burning desire to quit sugar and read health books. Maybe it was the junior year school load that impelled me to devour cucumbers like a rabbit. If rabbits eat cucumbers that is. 

Honestly, I am not sure what caused it. 

But the passion for “getting fit”and "eating right" suddenly enveloped me in its claws. And it has clutched me this way for almost twelve months. 

Which is the longest that I have ever stuck with anything. 

Besides Bible reading, talking, and writing perhaps. 

So here I am, many months after last September. 

Recently, I went running with a couple of my cousins.

To be honest…I didn’t hold up that great. 

I was gassed. They weren’t even winded.

I was ready to walk. They started sprinting.

Next to them, well, I am more than a little pathetic. 

In light of this, my tendency is to do some potent self-talk: Karis, I think to myself, you’ve been doing this for almost twelve months. You haven’t been perfect, but you have been pretty faithful. You’ve done well overall. Then, my thoughts shift. So, Karis…Why haven’t you arrived? Why haven’t you hit your goals? Why do you seem to be stagnating instead of growing? Why aren’t you “there” yet? You should just give up now, because what is even the point anyway? You will never be consistent. You will never… This, my friend, is a very dangerous mindset. 

Why? 

Because, if I’m honest with myself, my health journey isn’t about meeting all my goals. It isn’t really about the weight I lift or the amount of times I go running each week. It isn’t even really about whether I stuff a cucumber into my mouth…or a humongous piece of cheesecake. 

What is the purpose of my health journey then? It is just that. It is the journey. 

I am growing. I am progressing. I am learning. 

Yes, I’ve made plenty of mistakes and continue to make plenty more.

I am journeying down a road. It is not a road that leads to perfection (at least, not in this life), But it is a road that leads on. 

I may go off on a side trail or two. I might get lost in a hedge or almost drown myself in a pond. It is bound to happen. 

And when it does, I am going to get back on the main road and continue traveling.

I couldn't run a marathon (not even close)! I can’t do thirty push-ups at a time. Sometimes I still eat too way too many cookies. 

But I am much better than I was. 

I used to not be able to run at all. I used to not be able to do any pushups. I used to eat cookies every time they were available.

 I have assuredly become much stronger since last September. 

I am satisfied with who I am and where I am going. 

Now I am not saying that I don’t want to grow, be capable of more, or meet my goals.

I don’t want to be complacent or smirky about how far I’ve come.

But I do want to remember.

As I take the next step (and the next and the next), I want to bask in the joy of the journey. 

Are you finding joy in your journey?

I am not just talking about health and fitness, miles run, or muscle gained.

In fact, I’m really not necessarily talking about physical health at all! 

What about your spiritual journey? Do you feel frustrated about it? Like you are stagnating, not moving forward? Or perhaps you feel as if you’re traveling in slow motion, taking three steps back for every one step forward? 

Take a moment and look back on your life. How have you changed? How has God molded you through the years? How are you steadily being transformed, made into a new creature? How is he continuing to work on you and in you and through you?

Maybe you are in a valley instead of on a mountaintop in your journey. 

But, believe me, as long as you are journeying you are not a failure. 

Continue to journey. Journey on. 

As my friend Tolkien writes in The Fellowship of The Ring:

“The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.”

How are you doing in your journey of life? Does the road seem long? Are your feet weary? Are you stuck in a thorn bush or a canyon?

My friend, shake the pebbles out of your shoes and walk on. 

Remember where you have been and know where you are going. 

After all, the joy is in the journey. 

Perhaps you too have become stronger since last September. 

 -- Karis Anne