I’ve got
the steering wheel today; it’s going to be a little bumpy. I am Miguel,
husband to Fit and Fun Mama, Libby.
Weight loss and fitness..hmmm..The title pretty much sums up this area in
my life, struggles and victories, ups and downs, peaks and valleys; all those
clichés which really mean when I focus on weight loss it happens. When I don’t
it shows; in this blog the ladies talk about the realities of what happens when
you don’t have the food to exercise ratio in proper balance and how they go
through this journey of change. I’d like to move to giving grace and enjoying the ride. Why enjoy the ride; one simple word: Character.
Webster
definition of character is “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual;
your disposition, temperament and make-up.” So why this word and why now? I believe a lot
of self reflection is needed with any big change in your life; for most there
is an area or 2 that require self-reflection and major change to achieve
success. For some weight-loss, exercising, physical fitness are God-given talents
(we all have gifts in areas that come easy); they are great at it but their
struggles are in other areas: career, marriage, parenting, money, etc. No one has perfected all of these for good reason: we're not perfect. I’ve been renewing my walk with Jesus over
the past few months; I’ve studied, prayed and questioned what is God’s purpose
for struggles. The short answer is: Character.
“Not
only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering
produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And
hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5
How do we become inspirations
to other people if we don’t experience these struggles ourselves; would Driven even
be a blog of all of the bloggers are 2% body fat and spend 3-5 hours a day
working-out. One of the things that makes Driven a great read for me is “the
struggle is real”; these ladies put it out there; the success, the failure, the
joy and the pains. Struggles build character; not just your character but also
the character of the support system around; the people in the trenches with you. My
weight loss struggle melds me to some of the most important people in my life:
my brother-in-law and my wife. Bro-in-law (broham) is the fitness dude; he’s
always there to start me up again anytime I get serious on this training thing;
no judgments and no negativity just glad to see you in the gym again. Because
of my struggle and his support, that’s my right hand man. The great thing about
life is it works the other way around to; our struggles bring us together. It’s
a lot of words to say this: “Without our struggles, if everything was perfect
why would we need each other; what then builds character?” Struggles make you
vulnerable, Vulnerability makes you real to people. Being real is the only way
you defeat and succeed. Perseverance and hope come from having struggles; you
find your friends, family and support system there. To be honest any relationship without true vulnerability is superficial.
Would I like to 30lbs
lighter; sure. Would I like to run a 5K in 22 minutes; yep. Will I buckle down
and get started; probably..:). In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the ride
with my broham, wife, family and friends. The struggle is real because it needs
to be; it’s His plan.
Readers of Driven; embrace
your struggles and love the challenge to work past them. Stop beating yourself
up; patience and love are fruits of the spirit. It starts in you first. It’s
God’s plan to put the right people, resources and thoughts in your path to
achieve success and bring others along with you. Good luck on achieving your
goals ladies and gentlemen and love your character-building journey!!
Honbear Out!!
I absolutely love this!
ReplyDelete