"Respect the distance or the distance won't respect you! It will eat you up, spit you out and make you beg for mercy" - Unknown
I like the opening quote because this is the key to 'winning' this contest. As a runner, the distance in determined in the distance or the miles of a race, but for you, the distance is measured in time. Eighteen weeks of a disciplining yourself and bringing this flesh under subjection. These next eighteen weeks are the same length of time that I use to train for a marathon. I have trained for eight marathons and if there is one thing that could cause you to quit is the length of time it takes to train. The beginning is always exciting and full of renewed hope and idealism, but somewhere in the middle, when the pressure is really on, things begin to wane and it takes a sheer determination to remain focused and persist toward the mark you first set out to achieve. To remain disciplined to a structured schedule over the next eighteen weeks is not as easy as it may seem. Like I said, the beginning is always 'easy' because of the newness of the venture, but time, and time alone, will reveal what substance you are made of and eighteen weeks is a LONG time. There will be some who will fall by the wayside. There will be some who will make it half way before finally giving in to the demands of the schedule. But there will be a handful of people who will make it to the end. James Whitcomb Riley said, “The most essential factor is persistence - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come.”
You may say within yourself right now, "Well now, that's discouraging. Why are you writing about people quitting and not being able to make it?" I am writing this blog today, early in the contest, to help you in the future. You need to 'respect the distance'! The time will come when discouragement will hit. You will not always be on a high level of excitement. There will be times when you will feel all alone and the best option will seem to be opting out! I know. I have been there! You will come to a place, and it may be more than once, where you will face a wall and there will be two choices...quit or go on! B.G. Jett said it this way, "If the word quit is part of your vocabulary, then the word finish is likely not." Jesus said in Luke 21:19 "In your patience possess ye your souls." If there is one characteristic of this flesh that is certain, its very impatient. It wants everything NOW and its own way. Many times we make hasty decisions because we are impatient. “Endurance is patience concentrated.” (Thomas Carlyle) As you battle old habits, wrong thinking, and time...I am here to remind you, this contest will take patience! In your patience lose ye your weight!
“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.” (William Barclay) The Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our Faith, refuse to quit and endured the cross. When He came up out of the grave it was evident He wasn't the same! Yes eighteen weeks is a fairly long length of time, but think about the power and the victory you will have at the end of it all. YOU will not be the same. YOU will have overcome obstacles that you once deemed impossible. YOU will have achieved milestones you assumed only others could have. YOU will truly be a new YOU!
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge
I like the opening quote because this is the key to 'winning' this contest. As a runner, the distance in determined in the distance or the miles of a race, but for you, the distance is measured in time. Eighteen weeks of a disciplining yourself and bringing this flesh under subjection. These next eighteen weeks are the same length of time that I use to train for a marathon. I have trained for eight marathons and if there is one thing that could cause you to quit is the length of time it takes to train. The beginning is always exciting and full of renewed hope and idealism, but somewhere in the middle, when the pressure is really on, things begin to wane and it takes a sheer determination to remain focused and persist toward the mark you first set out to achieve. To remain disciplined to a structured schedule over the next eighteen weeks is not as easy as it may seem. Like I said, the beginning is always 'easy' because of the newness of the venture, but time, and time alone, will reveal what substance you are made of and eighteen weeks is a LONG time. There will be some who will fall by the wayside. There will be some who will make it half way before finally giving in to the demands of the schedule. But there will be a handful of people who will make it to the end. James Whitcomb Riley said, “The most essential factor is persistence - the determination never to allow your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement that must inevitably come.”
You may say within yourself right now, "Well now, that's discouraging. Why are you writing about people quitting and not being able to make it?" I am writing this blog today, early in the contest, to help you in the future. You need to 'respect the distance'! The time will come when discouragement will hit. You will not always be on a high level of excitement. There will be times when you will feel all alone and the best option will seem to be opting out! I know. I have been there! You will come to a place, and it may be more than once, where you will face a wall and there will be two choices...quit or go on! B.G. Jett said it this way, "If the word quit is part of your vocabulary, then the word finish is likely not." Jesus said in Luke 21:19 "In your patience possess ye your souls." If there is one characteristic of this flesh that is certain, its very impatient. It wants everything NOW and its own way. Many times we make hasty decisions because we are impatient. “Endurance is patience concentrated.” (Thomas Carlyle) As you battle old habits, wrong thinking, and time...I am here to remind you, this contest will take patience! In your patience lose ye your weight!
“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.” (William Barclay) The Lord Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our Faith, refuse to quit and endured the cross. When He came up out of the grave it was evident He wasn't the same! Yes eighteen weeks is a fairly long length of time, but think about the power and the victory you will have at the end of it all. YOU will not be the same. YOU will have overcome obstacles that you once deemed impossible. YOU will have achieved milestones you assumed only others could have. YOU will truly be a new YOU!
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge
We must die daily for a life time of change...Just like lo said it is about a life style change...and I still say it comes down to getting a deliverance form that overeating spirit...and that comes from repentance. So thankful for the power of repentance that brings the power of devil-liverence...I know I said it yesterday but I have to keep this wicked spirit in check.
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