Thursday, October 2, 2008

Psyche of Me

4:45 am the alarm rings and I jump out of my bed, somedays i jump because of excitement other days I jump because I have to. The days I have to get up I am getting up to run with my team. This year I am captain and I get to lead my team both with my voice and with my times. I love and hate it, I love and hate running. I love beating the sun up the buttes around Bend, and sitting on swings watching the sun rise. I hate and love the pain of it, I hate and love the pounding. Pounding, it can either be an anoying dripping of water or the powerful beating of drums. Some days, I ask why I run. Other days I cannot understand why anyone would miss out on it. There is something about how raw it is. It is just you. No excuses, no gear except a pair of shoes. It is humbling, yet empowering. People that know running, know themselves. It poses new challenge and new inspiration with every passing season. I believe that the argument to run is greater than that to stay in bed but I know also the pull of laziness. The desire to be comfortable. Too often comfortable trumps comfronting the pain of growth and I stay in bed. Then there is the power of running on a team, when they are there with you they often inspire you to greater determination. With a team you are forced to get out and run for more than the love of crisp morning air, or fitness. It becomes about the other men and women that are out there with you, you hurt together, you fly together, you win and you lose together. You push hard to help them grow and they push back to make you do the same. There is tension between the competition for your place on the team and the friendships that build. That tension is powerful. The love and hate are a potential energy that if used correctly will cause a person to rise way beyond what they had believed was possible. "Love righteousness and hate evil". Do not be afraid of pain, nor timid in the tension. Go after the discomfort, it develops unstopable strength.
I encourage you to run. "Physical training has some value... Spiritual training has value for this life and the next." Train yourself and do not let your flesh stop your spirit from growth.
My friends and I have had arguments for years about whether morning or night is better, every argument confirms inside of me the love I have for the early hours of the day. There is something about the crisp air and the darkness that is broken by the faint light of the sun peircing through with its arms with warm embrace. The smell of coffee brewing, the silence. It is powerful. There is so much potential in each and everyday for great things to happen. Pray. Excorsize. Plan. Be ready to go, ready to be used, ready for the greatness that comes from being used by God. Exersize both your Body and your spirit. God cares about the physical. He created it, he spoke it into being and told us to stuard over it. Teach your body discaplin. "The spirit is willing and the flesh is weak." Become a three stranded cord. (Ecclesiastes 12:7-12) mind, body, and spirit. You will not be easy to break and powerful to use.
I am amazed at how much you can learn about your spirit when you train your body for endurence. The Bible talkes about the tresting of your faith that produces endurance. The principles are applicable in multiple realms. We are beings that have not only a body but a spirit. They are tied to each other and will not separate until we are home. When the enemy wants to take me down he often will first ware on my body and get me busy so that I am tired. Then when I am tired it becomes more of a challenge to train my spirit. When I get sick I find is when I am most vulnerable. Satin is not stupid, he knows he is no match for you when your Dad is involved. When you have great relationship with God and your body lines up with that in health it is easy to stand against the attacks of the enemy. When you get tired he comes after you. He waits for the opportune moment. Luke 4:1-13. Verse 13 ...he left him until an opportune time. Your enemies will come after you in your inopportune times. You can cut down on those by training you body along with your spirit. Just do not let training your body become your idle. Running is a simple way to it. Keep it simple and inline with your spirit. This is some of the psychy of me. Any questions? Comments? I want to know, what is the psychology behind you? Why do you love the things you love. What are your tensions?