One Step at a Time

I have been taking a spinning (stationary bike) class 3 days a week and I LOVE it. It kicks my butt every time and I always leave the class dripping in sweat, but its a lot of fun.

I have the same instructor for my Monday and Wednesday class and she is by far my favorite. She is motivating and encouraging and just makes the class fun. At the end of every class we finish with some intense sprints. After 40 minutes of up and down hills, and several sprints at different resistance levels...the end of the class turns out to be a really hard push.

On Wednesday while we were pushing through the last of the sprints, the instructor told us to put our heads down and focus on out feet. "Its not about the finish line, its about putting one foot down, and then the next".

So, that's what I did. I stopped looking at the clock, counting down the minutes until the sprints were over. I stopped looking at myself in the mirror and being shocked by how much sweat was pouring off of me. I just looked down, and peddled.

And you know what? I pushed through farther and faster than I ever had before. It was AWESOME!! I left the class exhausted, and invigorated.

So often in my life I just want to see the finish line. I think I can push through the hard times as long as I have some idea of when it will end. I think that seeing the light at the end of the tunnel will motivate me to keep walking toward the light.

But, what I discovered on Wednesday is that I can go even faster and farther if I just go one step at a time. Instead of looking at the light far in the distance, I want to focus on the light right at my feet (Psalm 119:105)...and go wherever it takes me, no matter how long that takes. (Isaiah 42:16)