My youngest daughter has started an exercise program this year. And like most people, she has struggled. She will get inspired, start vigorously, make a few allowances because she doesn’t “feel” like exercising, have a few small changes in her schedule that devour the time that she was going to exercise, and then she feels like she is starting over.
She is in the midst of her third assault on this fortress and I think that she turned a corner a little over two weeks ago.
She and I were going to go to the prayer room. She had planned to exercise after school but the weather was rather inhospitable. Finally, one half hour before we were going to leave, the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun broke through.
“Dad, should I go run?”
I hesitated. In my mind this is about so much more than just exercise. I think that she is in the midst of changing her character. She is changing the way she views herself, what she expects of herself.
“Cakes, I think that if you run, you will experience a big breakthrough. Not because you are running, but because you are changing from looking for an excuse to taking advantage of an opportunity. I think you that you will look back at this decision and be glad that you chose to run.”
And, so she did. And she has not been the same since.
