day 22

I have confessed that I love to read articles about self-improvement. How many hours of sleep should I be getting? What is the nutritional value of cooked kale versus raw kale? What are ALL of the uses for coconut butter? And so on and so forth…

One thing that you will commonly see as you read about health and fitness is the theme of 21 days. 
21 day challenges like:
21 days to detox your body.
21 days to kick start your fitness routine.
21 days to a slimmer waist.
Etc…etc…etc…
This is all built out of the common understanding that it takes 21 days to form a habit.

I am not even sure if that is true but hey, a girl who will try black bean quinoa burgers is probably a girl who will try a 21 day challenge, and I did.

Back last January my friend Michelle and I made a commitment that we would work out every single day for 21 days.

I’ll be real.

I was KILLIN’ it. 

We’re talking full blown beast mode, hard core exercises sometimes up to 2 hours a day. 

I felt amazing.

I finally felt like I was in a place where I might reach a breakthrough. I felt excited an hopeful….and then the bottom dropped out.

On day 17 of our challenge I started feeling really sick at work. I was so sick that before I had to teach a class I left work, went to Walgreens bought Dayquil a ton of hand warmers. I tucked those hand warmers in every pocket I had because my fever was so high I couldn’t stop shaking with the chills.

When I got home I was discouraged that I wouldn’t be able to kill it that day but I did about half of a stretching work out just to meet my quota of “working out.”

By day 18 I could hardly function at all. I knew there was no way I could work out. I actually called in sick that day and if you know me then you know I felt HORRIBLE. I DO NOT call in sick unless I am dying.

I had planned to go back to work on day 19…instead I went to urgent care. It was day 20 when I was told that I had Mono.

My heart was broken.

I knew with Mono that it would be a long time before I could work out again.

Before Mono I was the kind of person who could go hard without stopping sometimes on 3-4 hours of sleep. After Mono, working even a 6 hours stretch became a task that required like 12 hours of sleep to recover. I did leave my house for a month to go anywhere besides work, church and the store.

I remember crying because it was like the light that was at the end of the tunnel of that 21 day challenge was snuffed out. I felt like my hope had been robbed from me. Once again I was stuck in this overweight body that I hated and now it was fighting against me with pain and exhaustion levels I could not even comprehend.

Even now 10 months later my energy level is not the same as it was before but I am getting stronger.

I told you that whole story to tell you this:

Today is day 22.

22 days ago I started on a road of discipline and growth, mind, body and spirit. I started a journey much longer than 21 days with a much bigger end goal.

As I sit here typing away on my laptop I will be complete my 7th goal for the 22nd time. In the grand scheme of things it is a minor achievement but there is something amazing about it to me still.

After I failed to complete that 21 day challenge back in January it took me a long time to try anything of the sort again. It was partially because my body needed time to get better but also partially because I was afraid and had given up hope.

The enemy was working hard to convince me that I am just a quitter and that my life can never change.

Yesterday, I completed my day 21 even though I was in the car for almost 14 hours of the day. I got up at 5am and ran, wrote a blog in a Cracker Barrel, had to stop about 48 times to pee and struggled to make the wisest food choices I was able to from gas stations and fast food stops, but I DID it.

Today the enemy fought me at every turn. I was exhausted from yesterday and he wanted me to be overwhelmed and to give up hope. I could barely wake up this morning and almost flew into my day without any time in prayer or without making my bed. When I opened my devotional Bible I discovered in a bizarre turn of events that my reading for the day was 25 chapters!!! That’s never happened before. When I opened my Nike Run Club app expecting a gentle short run to kick my week off, it greeted me with the news that it wanted me to go five miles today. (Oh and by the way I had like a 30 minute time slot in which to do it)

But you know what?

There is grace.

When I started this journey I committed to
Read the word
Pray on my knees
Write
Run at least a mile
Eat clean
Drink a gallon of water
And make my bed
At the end of day 22 I didn’t run 5 miles, but I ran. I didn’t read 25 chapters from Numbers and Deuteronomy, but I read. I slowed down and made my bed, got on my knees for just a few moments at the start of my day, drank alllllllllll the water, ate clean and now I am writing these words.

On day 22 the enemy tried to knock me off my course, but he couldn’t. He wanted me to feel the agony of defeat but tonight instead this very weary lady feels that thrill of victory and obedience.

Day 22? Check!


Just like Buzz Lightyear… “To infinity and beyond!”

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