a holy lent--endurance
I used to believe that if I kept to my workout regimen, I wouldn’t ever lose my muscle tone. I could keep my body and fitness forever. I didn’t take into account the debilitating effects of plantar fasciitis. An overuse injury, common to tennis players of a caliber much higher than mine, it has this ironic effect on your body. If you keep moving you feel fine. But when you stop for a while, like while you are asleep at night, you can barely stand up without a good stretch. You must back off of pounding activities and pace yourself. You may feel great walking two miles, but you pay for it later.
During the first year of the pandemic, I compensated by swimming through the long hot summer in my backyard pool. But last summer I returned to our Michigan cottage and, as I took on gardening projects that have been easy every other year, I pulled or pinched something. My sciatic nerve sent shooting pain down my left leg. This kind of pain improves with exercise, stretching and walking. But it doesn’t go away. It’s still there when I get out of bed in the morning or get up from a chair. And one simply can’t be walking all the time.
There’s no doubt that I’m getting older, and as I age, I’ve become more sedentary. The possibility of staying the same was unreasonable. Still, losing some of my elasticity and strength might slow me, but it shouldn’t stop me. I need to get back on the horse of exercise each and every day, for the sake of stamina and ENDURANCE. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. I need to walk. I need to stretch and do weight-bearing exercise. A healthy body will affect my brain. These days playing tennis I can’t get much faster on the court, but I can get smarter.
Even more than physical or mental endurance I long for spiritual endurance. Part of what supplies any endurance is courage. Poet Henry Van Dyke wrote:
“These are the gifts I ask of thee, Spirit serene:
Strength for the daily task, courage to face the road,
Good cheer to help me bear the traveller’s load”
What kind of endurance do you need today? Do you see the connection between what you are doing with your body and your mind and your spirit? If your body has endurance limitations, what can you do to keep your mind and your spirit strong? My favorite professional tennis player Rafael Nadal has said, “It’s all about finding the solutions…it’s not about how comfortable you feel.” Can you ask God for one small idea of how to build the endurance of body, mind and spirit? Can you ask for courage to change even if it isn’t comfortable?
Love, Liz
“Our bodies tight & tensed with ‘what now?’ Yet who has courage to inquire ‘what if?’” Amanda Gorman
No, that photo is not of me running. That’s my daughter, who runs rain or shine, heat or cold, and through the pain of RA. I’ve said it before…she’s my hero, a woman of courage and endurance.
