Pushing Through

The other day I was thinking about pushing through and what it means for me, and perhaps others who experience similar challenges.

In particular, I've been challenged lately in three very common areas: the physical, mental, and spiritual realms.

The hardest part of a challenge is when you get to that point where it's actually hard. That would be the point of a challenge, of course. The beginning is a piece of cake because the excitement has been built up. The end is easy because you're almost done. The middle, however, is where the "meat and potatoes are," as one of my professors at SEU used to say. The middle is where you do the grueling, tiresome, long-houred work that often prompts you to lose your focus and give up. The middle is where you lack motivation because you don't see results and it is the place where there often seems to be no life. The beginning and end are the salad or vegetables, if you will, but the middle is where you will do the hardest, most difficult, and most challenging work.

The middle is the hardest place to be because you don't want to look like that failure if you give up mid-stream or let other people see your vulernability. The middle is long, drawn-out, and often times can be boring and tedious, which actually could be the very reasons it is made "hard." Sometimes what's hard about it is the very fact that whatever you're doing can be boring and tedious, and trying to stay focused when something is boring and tedioius is one of the hardest things to do. But it's part of the course.

When each of us completes a goal, we go through these stages: beginning, middle, and end.

I've been challenging myself physically, these past few months, where I've been trying to push my body to do things that it's never done before--to surpass limits it's never known and to make it reach greater heights beyond anything I've ever felt. To see great results -- (yeah we'll see how that pans out LOL).

I've been challenging myself mentally, these past few months, to gain knowledge and understanding about exercise science and what it takes to become a personal trainer. I've been studying and reading my books in an attempt to learn the intricate details of the human body so that I can execute and design programs for people who want to better their own bodies.

And lastly, but most importantly, I've been trying to challenge myself spiritually by reading the Bible, which I've never done, in chronological order. This consists of a few chapters each day.

I say all this to tell you that in each of these scenarios and more, there comes a point in any challenge you face that in order to see those results and get to the "good stuff," you inevitably must come to a crossroads where you have to literally force yourself to continue on. For it is in that moment when you feel least like doing the task at hand that you find the greatest reward--in the middle.

It is in that moment on the bike at the gym where spinning on level 14 is killing your legs and you feel you have nothing left to give. Press on. It is in that moment where you're in Chapter 11 of 19 in your text book and everything is blurring together and nothing makes sense. Press on. It is in the chapters of the Bible like Leviticus and Deuteronomy where you're reading schedule requires studying Chapters 8-10 and they're all about every intricate detail of how the tabernacle was made, which doesn't spark your interest at all. Press on.

We all know that no one is perfect. We all do tend to give up from time to time. We all try our best, take breaks, and restrategize. But yet, we all do fail ocassionally as well. But if we push through to stand up when we're on the ground and can barely get up, we will rise and walk to the finish line.