Training for the Alps continues. That's right, I haven't given up -- yet -- on my dream to climb the Allalinhorn in Zermatt. I have until next summer to prepare for it, which will require tons of upper body strength. I am probably the world's most "accidental" athlete -- the guy in the back of the pack at a marathon that just keeps on going because he's too stubborn to quit.
It doesn't seem to matter how "successful" we have been at other things or how much we've "achieved" in this life, we humans seem to need to have to chase down new goals.
Now that lifting is integral to my life, now that I am lifting regularly with a definite goal in mind, I'm finding it a bit easier to face the challenges of life -- growing older, changing relationships, coping with the good and the bad.
I know that, in lifting as well as in life, there will always be good patches and not-so-good patches, and that nothing lasts forever except our relationship with Jesus Christ. In the final analysis, being active in my body has taught me how to be more alive in my spirit as well as how to be more appreciative of the small blessings of life, like a sandwich made from my daughter's farm fresh tomatoes and pickles ...
... or mowing the lawns on a beautiful summer day.
As I've said before, being an athlete doesn't necessarily mean you are athletic. I'm not. I am the world's greatest klutz. Being an "athlete" simply means that you are committed to facing the challenges of life with the courage and conviction of an athlete. My body is not unique or special. But it's the only body I've got. I know that if I let my body become loaded down with weight, it would affect my spirit.
And so I keep on dreaming, dreaming of climbing an impossible mountain peak. The simply fact of the matter is that when it comes to our bodies, we really do have to use them or we will lose them. I'm learning that my body will do almost anything I ask of it as I long I'm patient with it and give it time to adjust to the new demands I'm placing on it. Methinks yours can do the same.
I don't believe that my best days are behind me. My best day is still out there somewhere, and days like today are just another opportunity to find it.