Correct that posture

I started working out a few weeks back, I did previously, but I have never been as determined and committed as I am now, mainly thanks to my gym partner and friend. I am being stretched out of my comfort zone in so many ways.
I got a revelation this morning during a text conversation with another friend in regard to us not knowing how strong we actually are, and at times we are removed from our comfort zones to realize it, she responded with… “And some how we always get through whatever we are facing, even though the process can hurt at times.”

2 weeks ago I strained an abdominal muscle with the first exercise I did for the day (please jump 2 sentences if you are a sensitive reader), OMW… It hurt me soooo much, I could hear something tear. I thought I “crapped” myself, literally, I actually limped to the toilet, I was lucky, and clean. The obvious response is to clock out and go home, “I didn’t sign up for this.” But… my gym partner wouldn’t take that as an excuse, we adjusted my workout for the day to accommodate my injury. Very brave (or dumb) of me, directly after the gym session I went to play a round of golf. The first 9 holes was a disaster, every single swing caused more pain. By the second round of 9 holes I adapted my swing and played a much better round, even though still in immense pain. My gym partner was so kind and excused me for one day from gym. It still hurts now, but I am adjusting my work out daily to accommodate and keep going.

Last night my gym partner and I had a general discussion, I don’t know how we got to the topic, but we spoke about posture… walking, standing and sitting up straight, and what stretches to do in the morning to assist with this. I didn’t think much of it at the time, I did’t think my posture is too bad. But then in this morning’s gym session I strained my back, again with the first exercise of the day, and we weren’t even doing back exercises today. (Yes, FYI, we are warming up, and do stretches before and after working out). I tried my luck before, and wouldn’t even bother to try and clock out, it was not an option. My friend went to fetch his weight belt in the car to support my back, and we carried on with probably the toughest session to date. I hurt my back because my posture was wrong for the exercise we were doing, I used my back to lift the weights from the floor instead of using my legs. My partner reminded me of our discussion regarding posture the night before. For the rest of the day I was conscious of my posture due to my sore back, if I didn’t stand, walk or sit up straight I would get a pain that made my eyes squint, it forced me to walk and sit up straight, it forced me to use my legs when picking something up… I am now very much aware of my posture, and my posture is bad, it needs to change.

A bit of science… When we workout, we cause stress to the muscles which damages the muscle fibers. This then stimulates development, growth and strength of the damaged muscle fibers to be better prepared should the muscle be put under such stress again.
This made me think of our spiritual and emotional life. There is so much spiritual and emotional pain in society… pain caused by the wrong “posture” (this posture can be people, choices, work, lifestyle etc)…
We can choose to clock out, because we didn’t sign up for this… or we can exit our comfort zone and be stretched. This uncomfortable “stretch” breaks down old perspectives, and forces our spiritual “fibers” to stimulate development, growth and strength. We get comfortable with our “comfort” circumstances, and at times we accept things just because we don’t see anything wrong with our posture, even though our posture is not always healthy for us. When the strain comes around to move us from comfort it hurts really bad, you can hear something tear… and we very seldom know why things happen, and most of the time we think how we are going to get through the storm.

God often protect us from things in the future, things that we are unaware of, the torn emotions are very painful, but God knows that He must correct that posture… to either get us away from danger, or prepare us for an upcoming season.

Don’t clock out… Keep walking… Keep Going… (Luke 17:12-19).