LoveWorksStill

I love working out.  It’s something that gets me going in the morning and gives me a place to release energy that is built up.  Free weights, dreaded cardio, and HIIT workouts fuel my day.  However, it was time for a switch up for nothing was meant to stay the same forever.

The search for the next workout challenge was in motion.  I tried many different classes as it related to the things I was used to, but it was the early morning aquatics class that really caught my attention.  

The first day I arrived, it was very clear that I was more scared of the water than I realized!  I needed to work through the frantic feeling of water splashing in my face or the most uncomfortable chlorine water being sucked up my nose!  The stall of needing to breathe, yet knowing that it was going to burn made me want to abdicate the rest of the class that day.  I mean, I don’t know how many times I tried to overcome that part and ended up in a coughing spell which led to burping episodes.  How embarrassing!

This class takes place two times a week.  But one day while doing the wall workouts, I realized something.  I was fighting water from the 5 ½ ft part of the pool.  Not only should I have been able to stay afloat at this level, but I could have even stood up because I am 5’7.

The water continued to win over and over.  The workout itself seemed to be no real challenge compared to the digestion of water.  I realized the problem was not the water.  The problem was me. 

Have you ever blamed everything or everyone else for the shortcomings that continue to happen over and over again?  It’s so easy to just blame the “water” because it can be seen by more than just you.  The concern is how we move during our shortcomings determine how successful we will be at getting through the waves that will arise… whether we make the waves bend or if outside forces create them.

This particular day, I realized that I was not allowing the water to help me complete the moves in water that I could easily do on land.  I found myself fighting constantly with it while my body was moving around uncontrolled, never completing the move set out for me to complete.  This could not go on.  

I slowed down and began feeling the tempo of the water.  I checked the reactions that would occur by the way I moved my body.  Finding the best supportive role the water could give me was now another new challenge.  

After swimming to the wall for yet another wall workout, I completed an entire half of the class without thinking about swallowing water.  It did not even cross my mind that I was tired of fighting it.  Actually, I was full of bliss knowing that my body was moving smoothly due to proper form and control of my body.

Change can be good.  It is a part of life, and we all must get more comfortable with it. Because of this, my mission today is to coax you into trying something new.  Don’t let this year pass by continuing to do the same things day in and day out.  Growth is the result of change if you allow it to be so.  Allow the waves of life to support the mission assigned for you to carry.  It could help you stay afloat, move faster, or even slow you down in order to reach your place called there.  

When I deliberate with others about the nature of a challenge, I make sure to explain that it can be fun and painful for me.  It challenges my stubborn thoughts.  It keeps me reminded of my comfortability.  It also makes me sore in areas of my life that I never thought affected me.  Reality is that we can either keep fighting the waves or embrace them.  

Will you choose change or will you continue to keep fighting it? With some recent deaths that have occurred over the last few days, I understand it is really not easy to give up. It’s even more painful to keep living. But WHAT IF the fear that we have held isn’t a true representation of what life could be if we actually rode the waves? Don’t wait for change……start creating it. Sometimes, the first step is talking to a professional.

****If you or someone you know needs that extra support to keep swimming, call National Suicide Prevention Lifeline with them at 1-800-273-8255 today.****

Until next time, #loveworkswhenourwordsdont! 💚

PS: Please subscribe to my blog page to receive notifications when a new post is added.  Take a moment to invite someone to read it!  I would love to know your thoughts.   Follow me on Youtube, Jenae Chiles, as you will see Word of the Week Monday posts as they happen.