The exercise instructor added some new challenges to our water aerobics class. We had to keep our feet off of the bottom of the pool while moving them in a cross-country ski motion. In order to keep afloat, our arms were busy sculling at the same time.
When we were allowed to touch the bottom again the instructor told us to come up kicking. There was to be no pause. We went directly from fighting to keep our heads above water to kicking our legs up high.
After the class (I was too busy trying to breathe during it!) I thought about the come up kicking statement.
There have been times when the bottom seems to have dropped out of my life and I’ve had to fight hard to keep from going under. It takes everything I have just to stay afloat.
Eventually, I am able to put my feet on solid ground. The natural inclination is to rest. Far more beneficial is to come up kicking. It isn’t easy but the head start I gain will give me a much better chance of reaching my goal.
Past experience has taught me that what I achieve is directly proportionate to the effort I am willing to put in. In other words, how committed am I to what I say I want?
I really liked this one. It reminded me how important it is for me that I must continue to put my own efforts out with strength. Sometimes I want to coast too long on God’s energy instead.
I am not sure if you want any suggestions or not but this reminded me of something else. I love music and am blessed to take part in a strong choir. After many years of singing I was reminded how important it is in an anthem to have each voice involved. I am blessed to have a fairly strong voice. But our choir had a beautiful anthem where we usually sang well together. When it was time to actually sing it one Sunday it didn’t turn out too well that day. At first we couldn’t figure out what went wrong. Well in looking back we noticed that one of the softer vices was missing. This particular lady had pretty close to perfect pitch. With her missing it meant some of us went off key. Once again I learned how blessed I am to be able to sing more important just how crucial it is to listen carefully to those around me. We need each voice in other words. This makes the harmony go much smoother and balanced.
Many blessings to all your careful work Tandy. Your examples are so meaningful …it is great that you are able to blend your stories in with both teachings and examples of real life incidents. Thank you again.
Blessings to you and your family.
Phyllis Greenslade
Thank you for your kind words, Phyllis. I also appreciate the example you shared with me. It’s so true that each of us plays an important role.