Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Up From the Dumps

A few weeks ago, Jeff ran a 17.5 mile race. He's my hero. :) On the other hand, I was eating an apple hand pie and drinking a coffee, seated in a chair on the side of a soccer field. When we met up back at home, he gave me the "rundown" of his race. ;)

In the last leg of the race, the trail takes you to a steep ascent with a series of ladders. At this point, you have pasta legs, and it's a battle of your will vs. your weakness. As he stood there catching his breath, a woman ran up alongside of him and stopped, looking up at the imposing ladders. "I don't think there's any way I can lift my legs to climb that," she confessed.

"What did you tell her?!?!?" I wanted to know. I LOVE a good story!  :)


"We're at the end. You HAVE to keep going!" And they did. He has a corny sweatshirt to show for it. :)


Not too long ago, I said something similar to my runner hubby. "I'm feeling like I'm sliding into a funk." And I began noticing that a lot of the women around me were also dealing with a sense of discouragement. I heard it in their conversations and in their status updates and prayer requests.  I saw it in their eyes and in their "pasta legs."  I recognized it, because I know how it feels, too.  It may last a short while, or it may last long, but it's that overwhelming feeling that you can NOT lift your legs to get up the ladder. Truth is, a corny sweatshirt is NOT enough motivation to get out of the dumps.  Everyone "goes there" sometimes, but we don't want to stay there.


It's true: we have to keep going; there is a "finish line" awaiting us. So that's what I want to spend the rest of October on. Getting "Up From the Dumps," battling discouragement. Think about what weighs heavily on you:  extended family, health issues, trouble with children, pain in the church, finances, stuff to maintain, expectations in relationships, unrealized dreams, unemployment, world news ... There is hope and help to get up the ladder. This October, let's get "Up From the Dumps" together!

What's weighing on you?

2 COMMENTS ~ Click here to leave a COMMENT:

Julia said...

Love this! I don't like to dwell on the negatives but sometimes you just have to air them out to move on!

Susan said...

Great post Julie! You are very real and speak truth that we all need to hear. Thanks.