TENACITY

I am trying to make myself a runner. This big body is hard to move. Oh I can swim, take spin class, and do the elliptical all day and sweat like Mark Sanford at a press conference. But I have a hard time making myself run. On Monday I ran the outside track for 30 minutes. Of course, every 5 minutes I had that little voice going, “Go inside and finish on the elliptical. Your shins hurt, you will pay for this tonight.” But I kept going. Plod Plod Plod. I have done 9 miles a week for the last two weeks - 3 times each week / 3 miles a pop.

Now if I could show the same tenacity with fighting off soft drinks!

I want to lose some weight and run a half marathon, but I am too impatient and will not really work for it. Our world is like that. We want instant gratification. But we all remember our grandmothers saying to us, “Haste makes waste” or “Good things come to those who wait.” One of the major mind sets I hope to teach my children are that any worthwhile accomplishment or acquisition takes time.

Tenacity is that internal doggedness that allows us to hang in there and overcome impatience.

I love setting goals at work and dreaming big. I am a firm believer that if we don’t stretch ourselves there is little reward. Difficult challenging goals create purpose. When we have those stretch goals we can’t get bogged down with obstacles. Road blocks change the course a bit but not the destination. One of my favorite John Wooden quotes is “The journey is better than the destination.”

She thought, “if I could just touch his robe, I will be healed” Matthew 9:21

This story inspires me. After she touched Jesus he stopped and asked, “Who touched me?”

The woman must have thought he was angry because she was unclean. Peter told Jesus to relax that there was a big crowd and someone just bumped him on accident.

“No, someone deliberately touched me, for I felt the power go out from me,” Jesus responded.

When Jesus turned and the crowed backed away the women cowered. She started to explain why she touched him. She must have been so embarrassed. I can imagine she was internally scolding herself about taking such a risk.

“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:47-48)

Pray today for the tenacity to overcome obstacles and negative people. Draw back on experiences when you persevered. Commit yourself to be focused on the main objective of excellence and avoid anything that detracts you or takes you off course. Ask for the tenacity to do the things that are important to God.