Everyday a Champion! Begin, Again.

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Who trains the body for days, weeks, and months, for the privilege of toeing a start line?  A finisher, that’s who! Whether or not you’ve ever paid the entry fee to run a foot-race, don’t assume you are not competing in a race. Beacause if you are reading these words right now, then you are indeed a competitor, in the Game of Life!

Understand that the what must come before the how. First choose what you would do. The how usually falls into place of itself. Julia Cameron

Does that statement fill you with happy expectation or dread? How will you fill your waking hours? What brings meaning to your minutes? Don’t you know that you are a living, breathing, being full of unlimited potential and possibility?

You have everything you need to create your very best life, today! You are the Creator of Your Living-Life! With the dawning of every new day you are given the Gift of Beginning! Breathing is proof of your championship potential. Breathing is proof you hold the gift, the gift of your beginning…again.

A champion, by definition, is one who competes so as to win a prize or best her competition.  Crossing a finish line is the goal of every champion. Even though every striving entrant knows that only one participant will cross the finish line first, this fact does not minimize the drive of a champion’s will to cross that line.

The need to win, now, is the need to win approval from others. As an antidote, we must learn to approve of ourselves. Showing up for the work is the win that matters. Julia Cameron

To train is to join the game. To join the game is the delight of living! A champion’s  heart beats to the cadence of willful, intented steps towards her goal. A champion thinks and believes in her training because every day she trains is proof to herself that she is besting herself. The mindset of a champion-at-heart is determined to overcome her can’t-do’s with her can-do’s.

The stringent requirement of a sustained creative life is the humility to start again, to begin anew. Julia Cameron

The heart of an authentic competitor-champion steels her will, hones her drive, attends her focus and casts off distractions to squash the lure of indifference. A true competitior evolves as champion with every choice she makes to actively train her body and mind with each new day. Championship is born in the process of one’s training. You are a Champion when you take the risk to begin your training, again and again. 

An Army of One

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I have always been intrigued by the ‘Army of One’ slogan. It conjures the image of an individual dressed in military camouflage engaged in military activities without the benefit of doing those activities with the Army of Others. The ‘One’ ideal, it seems, is more adept at preparing an Army of ‘individuals’ to work together rather than training the ‘herd’ to work as an Army. Regardless of whether this ideal works for training soldiers, it has merit when applied to our own individual goals, especially in regards to our exercise or fitness goals. There are myriad plans and trainers to chose from in the current marketplace. Whether virtual or local, the fitness market is flooded with exercise programs that can be trendy or based on solid training principles; it can be difficult to know which activities are safe or worthwhile in which to engage. However, if we employ the ‘Army of One’ mentality to our exercise training, this gives us the freedom to pick and choose the setting, the exercise and the intensity that best suits are current fitness needs. Consulting or training with an exercise professional will almost always enhance your exercise outcomes too. The most important thing to remember is this: if you want to be an Army of One, then you have to train like you have enlisted for service. You must follow up on the commitment you made to yourself, and engage in those activities that will bring you health and vitality each day of the year.

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Wonderfully Made

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If we were truly able to comprehend the spectacular, out of this world, design and craftsmanship of the human body, I am convinced that we would not so easily abuse, neglect and misuse our physical bodies. If scientists of every genre are still mining new understandings of the intricacies of the human body, its systems and organs, why then should I be surprised that I am amazed by the marvelous handicraft that I presently occupy? It boggles my mind…does it yours? The wonder of the synchronous harmonies of our flesh and bones?

When I consider these things, I am humbled; I am brought low; and I am grateful for the capacities of strength and endurance my physical body faithfully provides me every day; intuitively I know that its craftsmanship, its design, its beautiful form and function is meant to conjure such awe inspired feelings…not for myself, but for the One who thoughtfully knit me together. I want to remind myself today to be full of awe and gratitude for my physical body and what it allows me to do each and every day. I want to remind myself that I have been given this body, its capabilities for strength and endurance, not only for my needs, but in service to meet the needs of others. It is with these thoughts, these reasons, that I train my physical body every day. And when I do train, I think of these things, and I never cease to be amazed and inspired and grateful.

I thank you, High God–you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration–what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.  Psalm 139:14-15
(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)