I’ve had a wonky lower back for about 20 years – it may be because I am weak in general, but it was probably helped along by several incidents of “Hey, let’s try to lift this anyway,” usually involving boat trailers… As a result, I can go long stretches where it is fine, then suddenly it’s back out of whack and I am walking around like one of the undead. Over the years it has gotten crankier in general, and more likely to go sideways for not much reason at all.
I thought maybe that it might be time to take a more proactive path towards my health, now that I am in my mid 40’s and am seeing how all the stuff I want to do and keep doing could become impossible if I let this slide. So I told my chiropractor after one of my “put humpty dumpty back together” appointments, “I think I might try physical therapy…”
“Great idea” she said, and immediately wrote a script, because she has been waiting for me to get proactive for years. So I made an appointment, showed up and talked to smiley Jen, and then launched into the plan. For 15 more times I went for 90 minute visits and did my plan. I did monster walks with stretchy bands tied around my ankles, planks and bird dogs, and things with this strap and that ball, under the supervision of smiley Jen and her people.
I am mostly dutiful, and wanted to give it a fair shot, but in the back of my mind I realized “this is going to take a lot more than 15 times.” But I was also thinking “I don’t need smiley Jen. These exercises are simple, and I can just do them at home, now that I know what to do. I’ll save a ton of time and money!”
So after the 15th visit, I said “Thank you very much, I’ve got this from here.” But I did not have anything from there. I knew what to do, and why I needed to do it. But I did not do it. I sustained my home exercise program for approximately 1.7 days and am right back where I started.
Besides confession being good for the soul, I tell you this with this observation – sometimes we can’t “just do it” on our own. Some of us benefit greatly from committing to a process that includes people like smiley Jen who hold us accountable, and push us forward to where we know we want to get to.
I think of our Converge program in very similar terms. You may say “I can deepen my relationship with Christ, learn more about the strengths and gifts he’s given me, develop a heart to serve, and clarify where my next steps are leading all on my own!” And maybe that is true. But maybe not.
Maybe like me, you need smiley Jen (or in this case smiley Megan and relentless Morgan) to be part of your routine for a year, to hold you accountable and push you forward to where you know you want to go. If you recognize that committing to a process for discipleship, spiritual growth, and personal development is what you need to accelerate you to where you know you want to be, why not learn more about Converge? Our next class opens soon, so don’t wait to contact us and come visit with Morgan and Megan to find out more.
In the meantime, I’ll be over here trying to talk myself into planking for a while…
