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It was just another dance competition. I took the floor and went to my opening position to skate 3 minutes of one of the dance for my event. I wanted to give it my all. I pushed fast, stood up straight and still, and even painted a smile on my face. I was doing everything I could to be the best I could be.
As time went on those 3 minutes felt agonizing. My legs quickly grew sore. My once bent knees started to rise up from the pain. My back and shoulders were hurting, and it was hard to keep my shoulders down and relaxed. Finally, my core was giving out quickly. I could no longer stabilize my body through the strength of my core, because it had run out. My body moved back and forth with every step. The fake smile on my face turned into an open mouth paired with a red blotchy face. ➡
The dance finally ended, and I exited the floor. But wait! There is a whole other dance to skate. My heart dropped. I had already gave it my all in my first dance and I tired out quickly. How was I going to deal with this dance, the harder one? When it came down to it, I was quickly realizing that I wasn’t strong enough. I was panicking with anxiety because no one could help me. I was going to have to go back out there and just keep fighting to make it through all by myself.
In the moment, these times are very scary and hard. Skating will eventually bring you to hard choices and test you. It will exhaust you (if you do it right). But this is actually one of the reasons I love competitive skating. Skating is like a training ground for real life. In real life, things happen to you outside of your control. Things happened to you that you didn’t prepare well enough for and sometimes you never could be prepared for. Life may at times break your heart, your mind, and your body. What do you do when life won’t stop hurting and there’s no one to turn to? It’s just you, needing to go out there and perform.
Receipt of me dying lol
You endure. You push yourself to keep going. You fight the odds. You strive to do the next right thing. Persevering despite hard situations is key to developing yourself into a mighty force in life that cannot be shaken. The diligence and zeal to keep striving for a goal despite temporary struggles is what will truly set you part in life. This can be summed up in the word endurance.
But how do we really endure? Especially when no one is there to help us? It is easy to say “I’m going to be strong and push through.” Actually doing that is unattainable by approaching it with brute force however. Unfortunately, many times the truth is that we are not strong. We all crack under pressure and we all fail more often than we like to admit. So what do you do when there’s no one to run to, no one to help you get through whatever the hard situation is that you’re facing? In times like these, settle the anxiety in your heart by remembering that God desires to stick closer to you than any friend ever could. So close in fact, that when we trust Jesus and that He paid for our sins on the cross and that He resurrected, He promises us that His Holy Spirit goes to live inside of us! We need Him inside of us to give us the strength to keep going when we feel weak. If you cry out to Him in your weakness, you will find that He will give you supernatural strength that no one can take away. The best part is, you never face anything alone again.
I took the floor for my second dance, and anxiety coursed throughout my veins as I thought of the exhaustion of my leg muscles. When we train our bodies and work out, we actually rip our muscles inside of our bodies. It takes pain tolerance to do this (don’t push too hard of course! Only enough to make it hurt a little so that you can build your muscle). If we push through and endure, we will find that we become much stronger over time. The pain of my legs was bad, but what was worse was my anxiety for getting through it. I prayed and took a moment to dwell on that still, small voice inside of me instructing me to trust God that I wouldn't make a complete embarrassment of myself. I decided to give all my care to Him, and try to just get through the dance.
At the end of the 3 minutes, I thanked God I made it through. It certainly was not my best performance, however when I took the floor in practice shortly after the competition, I was stronger in my body and wiser in my mind. You bet I started practicing for 3 full minutes or more of each dance more often! In the end, I learned that sometimes you need to endure through the hard times in order to strengthen yourself for the future. When we train ourselves to endure physically, mentally, and spiritually, we will go farther than our original goals ever dreamed.
~ Endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Romans 5:4 ~
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