Lizzie and I once participated in a physical fitness contest named “Body for Life Challenge”. The goal was to build strength while losing weight. We did not “win” but we learned many things more valuable than a trophy or lines in a record book.
While we were in the process of training, I wrote in a journal:
It was hard to get out to the aerobics today. I wanted to make it an “easy” day, but thought, “this is a contest and you don’t win contests by doing things the easy way, the other contestants are not taking it easy. They will gladly run past those who are taking it easy. After you eliminate all the ones who take easy days you have left the ones who are trying hard. These are competing against each other. In this class you have to struggle and persevere to win. It may be you are outclassed by some of the contestants but to assume so and let up on some of your own drive is to allow the others to run past you. Until you are past the finish line you do not know who the winner will be.
In any case, the real challenge is to strive against your own limitations. No matter what anyone else does you must run past yourself. It’s a matter of ruling your body, your mind, your spirit, for these are what must be enhanced so that they can compete against any other. If you do not master yourself you will overcome no other. True, God may not have made your body like a professional athlete’s. Perhaps it is physically impossible for you to win the Tour de France, or to finish the Iron Man. But even if you could, you have to deal with yourself on a day-by-day, minute-by-minute basis. It’s your reluctance, your tiredness, your pain, your exhaustion you must deal with and not the difficulties of someone else. Only in dealing with yourself will you advance in dealing with others.
All this is also true for activities that relate to the spirit and to the character. It’s you that needs to pray, it is you who needs to read the Bible, you who needs to reach out to others.
As I wrote that day I realized we were coming to the final push . . . “We only have three weeks left in the Body for Life Challenge. From how we look right now it does not appear we will be in contention for any of the prizes. Yet we dare not let up in any of our effort. Who knows, the judges may select us for some reason. It would be no comfort to have let up, let the contest end, and always know we did not put a hundred percent into it. If we never hear a word from the contest officials, yet we tried until the last day, we will know we will have tried right until ten feet past the finish line. Finish up, don’t wind down.
