Are you finding yourself constantly crushing it or constantly off track? Do you feel this weight of getting everything right, having it perfect, and this insane guilt when it doesn't end up that way? Do you feel like you have to be ALL IN or you can't move forward?
Get ready to let out a huge sigh of relief. You weren't made to live this way. If only it were that simple, right? Well, maybe it can be.
Growing up I was the kid who had to get all A's, I didn't let anyone see me fail, I knew that if I worked hard enough I could lower my chances of disappointment. That's a lot of pressure for someone to carry, let alone a teenager. It only carried over into adulthood. If I did a 3 week nutrition course that asked me to be "all in", I was all in to the point I would even have a lick of my husband's ice cream cone once during the 3 weeks. If I had a training plan to complete I would skip sleep, push through injuries, ignore my body when it needed rest just to get it done. I didn't want to be a quitter or someone who lacked discipline. The result was always the same. Get great results when you were ALL IN, then crash afterwards only to start all over again. If only I had just found the right harmony in my efforts I would have been way farther along than this constant up and down.
During this summer I was tempted to do an "all in" challenge where you completed a certain number of workouts, followed a nutrition plan 100%, and several other disciplines for a certain time frame. If you failed a day, you started over. Let me insert, I do believe that you can get great results from this and some people need discipline, but what I feared would happen was addiction to exercise and nutrition that I had went through in the past. This feeling that if I had a sick kid, a family member in the hospital, or I just wanted one bite of an ice cream cone I was a "failure". Or that my measure of success was determined by how well I did things perfectly.
This is where the problem lives. We try so hard to be perfect & live up to something that just isn't possible. Perfection is not something we can achieve. We are human and we will always fall short. Maybe you get through your challenge, but at some point you are going to have a rough season. So what if we realized that it was actually in our shortcomings that God got the most glory? What if we get to show the world that we've messed up, but we are still here pursuing a life of joy, meaning, and purpose ALL BECAUSE of the God who made us?? AND that we are better because of all of our mistakes!
What if your true strength is actually found in how you fight back AFTER you fall? Some of the strongest and most impactful people I know have failed the most. They have chased things with this insane faith that even IF it doesn't work out, they are going to be okay because God is walking right beside them. This is the type of faith I hope to embody. One that goes after things of the spirit and not things of the flesh. A person who isn't afraid to fail, but instead embraces each failure as a learning opportunity and a chance to lean even more heavily into God.
I want to challenge you to let go of the "ALL IN" mentality in whatever you are going after right now. Find the GRACE that has already been given to you. Pray about it & ask God for help on your journey.
If fitness and nutrition is an area I can assist you with, I'm always here to guide you. Or even if it's a prayer as you go into this week for peace, humility, and the ability to embrace your shortcomings I'm here for you.
What's one way you can find grace this week??
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