My mouth hung open. I stared at the woman walking past me. It was not polite to stare (I know, okay!), but I forgot that my mouth was still hanging open.

I had just worked out at the gym. My muscles were getting EVEN stronger! For example, this time, I didn’t have to go to the far edge of the gym to find lighter weights than the weights set out by our instructor for the group class.

I could use the lightest weights that were ALREADY placed there for the group class INSTEAD of locating even lighter ones!

My muscles were growing, and that’s why I was there! My ego was growing, too! “Look how strong I am getting!” I thought proudly, appreciating my thin little arms with increasing pride.

At the end of the class, as we were putting the weights away, I wiped my brow after picking up and putting away a hefty 10-pound weight.

And that’s when my mouth fell open.

I tried to keep it closed, but I would need both hands to do so, and I didn’t want to drop the weight I was carrying on my foot.

That older woman was carrying 50-pound weights in EACH arm as she helped re-stack the weights.

(!)

I instantly remembered the stories relatives told me of my strapping great-uncle. He was over 6 feet tall, built like a farmer (He was a farmer!) and threw 100-pound sacks of potatoes. “Wow!” I had thought, the day I heard this story.

That same day, I played another game of Candy Crush on my iPad while finishing my ice cream bowl, hoping I could be strong like that!

And so, this year, I joined a gym and began pumping 5-pound weights with full energy and gusto! “Wha-hooo!” I thought, imagining myself pumping 6-pound weights in another six months or so and maybe eventually moving up to 10 pounds in EACH ARM one day!

It turned out that my vision was too small.

Like in a lot of areas of life, during various seasons.

Like for many of us.

How is your vision for who you are becoming, friend?

And so, why should we go to the gym if it’s not solely to work out?

We place ourselves next to others who have a vision for themselves that is greater than the vision we have for ourselves. And seeing another get stronger helps me to have faith that one day, with patience and persistence, I can get a bit stronger, too. Stronger than I ever thought I could be, actually.

Am I willing to pay the price of a bit of sweat?

“One of the standards we ask of our male patients is that they can carry half their body weight in each hand (so full body weight in total) for at least one minute, and for our female patients, we push for 75 percent of that weight.”

Outlive by Peter Attia, MD (Chapter 12)

This goal is not only for the 0.00001% elite but is something that antiaging physicians like Peter Attia recommend that ALL of us who can (barring injuries and ill health) strive to work towards.

I didn’t even know this was possible for someone my age.

And on a not unrelated theme, who do you know, friend, who:

– Seeks to listen to the whispers from God,

– Obeys and is following Him on a journey of adventure,

– Is not (always) a jerk?

Are you willing to pay the price of their lunch? Can you meet with them to have your vision expanded as you listen to them for what is spiritually possible in your life, too?

May you become all that God intended for you, friend.

As the song below plays, consider asking God, can you please recall to my mind or introduce me to someone with an inspiring spiritual vision for their life? What nudges do you sense from God, friend?

You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.

The Message

Image Credits: Woman kneeling beside man by by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash, Bird soaring by by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash, Tough guy by Xenia Bogarova on Unsplash.

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