Go Ahead and Get in the Gym: Life’s Gym

The gym. It’s that unique place where purpose and pain, if used together with intention, can render some pretty phenomenal results. But there must first be purpose…and pain.

Purpose comes in the form of recognizing where you are currently, where you have the potential to be, and what it will take for you to ultimately get where you desire. It is the necessary fuel, once discomfort sets in, that will keep you dedicated until you start to see visible changes.
Now pain is a different beast altogether.  It can come from so many places. One can feel its pangs simply from looking in the mirror and realizing you have to change. It can also be felt in those critical times when you must resist your craving for fatty foods and choose a diet that is better for you. This can definitely be a hard fight.  Appetite and will have such a visceral connection to our psyche. Then there is the sheer suffering that comes from putting in the work. The lifting, sweating, burning calories, toning, developing muscles, at times, can feel like a near death experience. Truly.
In time, however, the discipline of committing to the gym pays off!  We emerge from the grueling  regimen beautifully transfigured in everyway: mentally, physically, and psychologically. Metaphorically, however, there is a “gym” for every area of our lives that is out of shape, weak, and in need of development. Whether it’s managing our finances, or redirecting the course of a career, rekindling the connection in a marriage or relationship, perhaps it’s honing our parenting skills, the list can go on and on.  But whatever the life challenge is, there is a gym for it. The gym you need may be a church or mosque. For someone else it may be grad school or therapy. Whatever your area of weakness, you deserve to be stronger, better and wiser.
So grab hold of your sense of purpose and embrace the pain of getting in life’s gym for your specific need.  Once you get there, stick with it until you see your desired outcome. Trust me, it’ll be worth it in the end and you’ll be oh so glad you did!