Wednesday, September 11, 2013

It was the worst of days. It was the best of days.

Ah, Monday. The nemesis of everyone from school children to CEOs. You'd think by now, with all of our technoligical advances and government programs, we'd have figured out a way to defeat it...but, no. It arrives, every week, like a stubborn, greedy bully, ready to beat you senseless and suck the life out of you.

Mondays are not my favorite.

This past Monday pulled out all the stops: I woke up with what I thought was a sinus headache, it wouldn't respond to medication, I missed my workout, and lasted all day. Then, as an added bonus, it turned into a migraine, sent me to bed without supper and kept me down, a moaning, nauseated mess for another 24 hours.

Mondays are sadists, apparently.

Yes, this past Monday turned out to be one of the most miserable 48 hours in recent memory. That recent memory includes a stomach virus, a bout of strep throat and a 2-week earache, so, yeah, it was that bad.

What made the migraine worse was that it was following a string of illnesses (the ones I mentioned above...they all happened within the past 6 weeks!) that interrupted my life and distrupted the routine I'd been working so hard to build. As I lay there, in pain, wanting to puke, unable to rest, I kept thinking about how many runs I've had to miss over the past couple of months, how much faster and further I "should" be running by now, how many times I've succumbed to comfort food because eating a salad when you're sick just seems unnatural. I confess, I got frustrated...and a little bit scared.

Are the wheels coming off?
Am I doing something wrong nutritionally?
Am I going to keep getting sick and revert back to my old ways?
Am I ever really going to beat this?

But, God...

I was reminded of the pinky promise I made to myself.
I was reminded of how far the Lord has brought me over the past 7 months.
I was reminded of all the ways He has kept me in this and helped me get back up when I failed.
And, I came to my senses.

Sickness is going to happen. Migraines are going to happen. Bad days are going to happen. That's just life. The important thing was how I responded to them.

Sure, I could lay there and feel discouraged, like everything that's been done these past 7 months was being undone by a short season of sickness, and console myself with junk food from the corner store or pizza delivered hot and fresh to my door.

That was certainly how this Tina would have responded.
  
 
 
But, I'm not that Tina anymore.


I'm THIS Tina.


This Tina gets back up. This Tina doesn't run to food for comfort. This Tina doesn't wallow. This Tina hopes and trusts and prays and does the next right thing. This Tina practices self-control. This Tina is a runner!

So, as soon as she was able, THIS Tina got her hiney off the couch, ate a healthy dinner and worked out...because that's how this Tina rolls. ;)

What started as one of the most miserable days, ever, ended as one of the best, not because of the circumstantial bits and pieces but because of how I chose to respond to it...because of who I chose to be.

And, I have to say, this Tina is super stoked about that choice.






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