“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” 1 Corinthians 9:24

Tall and lean, the young woman passed me at a fast pace at the second-mile marker on my morning run. I looked up to watch the increasing distance between us and felt tempted to speed up.

“Nope. Don’t go there, missy.” I muttered under my breath.

I knew from recent experience that increasing my pace would only lead to one of two things: not being able to reach my 3-mile goal, or, worse yet, not being able to walk the next day. Sigh.

Yet, as I looked at the young gazelle once more, the competitive athlete trapped inside this aging shell wanted to catch up and pass her.

Fortunately, wisdom won, and I kept a steady pace. I shook off the distraction and continued listening to the excellent podcast playing in my ear.

It wasn’t long until I spotted Young Gazelle again. This time, she was walking. Pretty slowly, I must add.

“Hmmm. She must have ended her run.” I thought.

As I passed her, I could hear the heavy breathing. She was drenched in sweat and continued to walk through the track slowly. I kept at my steady pace, proudly passing the 20-something-year-old girl. It wasn’t long before I heard the steady steps behind me again. She was once more running at lightning speed, passing me as she did.

And then she stopped.

Again, I passed her panting self and finished my 3.5-mile run that day.

This “race” between the two of us got me thinking.

I started running not long ago after many years of inactivity. Whether due to the busyness of raising two young children, several health issues that prevented me from exercising consistently, or plain laziness, exercising was not a priority for the past decade. And then, as a new big birthday approached, I felt motivated to challenge my body to get in better shape.

The process started slowly, inspired by a good friend who is close to my age and started running in her late 40’s as well. I saw her posts on Social Media and asked if she would mentor me. To her surprise, I made it good on my word and showed up at the park for our first walk together, almost six months ago.

Following her advice, I downloaded the Couch-to-5k app (C25K), started walking, and then walking and running. The program slowly increased the time I spent running until, almost three months into the process, I was able to run for 3 miles non-stop.

“Slowly but surely.” That’s how I have been able to reach my first goal in this newfound challenge.

The woman that passed me that morning reminded me of my young self. Eager, rushed, anxiously pushing past my limits. But as I get older (and hopefully wiser), the Lord has been showing me that, most of the time, it is by slowing down and not rushing through the process that I can accomplish His purposes for my life.

Oh, don’t get me wrong – I’ve known that, all along. But the truth is – patience has never been one of my natural virtues. Countless times have I rushed through life, carelessly disregarding the pressure I was putting on my body and soul. The result was always the same: stress, anxiety, defeat.

Can anyone relate?

Can you testify of the many wrecks caused by lack of patience? #RechargeWednesday #Linkup #Impatience
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We want to lose weight and often dive into crash diets, eager to drop the pounds that were added through many years of lack of discipline. Instead of slowly changing bad habits and replacing them with good ones, we rush towards that feel-good moment when the scale quickly moves down… only to move up again a few months later.

We dread loneliness and rush into relationships that often take us far from God’s best for our lives.

We look at the person beside us at work, ministry, or friend group, and mimic their choices or push hard to “pass” them, only to realize it: that was supposed to be their rhythm, not ours.

We compare, rush to keep up… and then…crash.

Is that you today, my friend?

Could impatience be pushing you towards a lane that is not yours?

Could it be that the glimmer that comes from the life of that person you admire in ministry tempts you to rush out of your cadence and mimic theirs?

Could it be that the void in your heart pushes you into the arms of the wrong person, instead of trusting the embrace of your Savior?

Could it be that the devil’s lies have anchored your heart in a vicious and self-deprecating cycle?

“If I don’t do ‘X’, I’ll never succeed.”

“Look at ( )! I must speed up to catch them. I’m falling behind!”

“I can’t rest. I can’t slow down.”

“I will never accomplish ‘X’ unless I do ‘Y’ and ‘Z.”

Have you noticed how self-centered these thoughts can be?

For any time we step outside of our God-given pace, we give room for the famous trio “me, myself and I” to take over. “If I don’t…” “If I do…” “I…I…I…”

We lean on our own understanding instead of “trusting God, acknowledge Him in all our ways, and wait for Him to direct our paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 paraphrased).

So, here’s a challenge for you and me today:

If you find yourself “racing” to keep up with the person in front of you, I pray you stop, and spend some time with the Master. Leave YOUR plans, your understanding, your timing, your ways, your desires at the foot of the cross.

For as you do, He will guide you to follow the path and pace He designed for you, at this point in your life, lest you give up – breathless, burdened and broken – before crossing the finish line.

“You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant?” – Dr. Seuss

You are you. Now, isn’t that pleasant? – Dr. Seuss #RechargeWednesday #Linkup
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LINKUP party is Open! A run in the park got me thinking about the almost irresistible tendency we often have to strive to keep up with someone else's pace. Join us and share your blog!
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After persistent pleading, I finally agreed to play Mario Kart with my daughters. Our teenager had asked us to purchase the video game at the end of the school year, so they could enjoy it during their summer vacation. I was reluctant, since my plan was to spend the summer enjoying fun outdoor activities, while cutting screen time to a minimum.

Thanks to endless rainy days, my summer plans didn’t stand. Needless to say, there are only so many activities that a mother can come up with indoors.

That’s how I found myself with a Wii remote control in my hand, trying to figure out how to play my girls’ new favorite game.

The game is pretty simple. You hold a certain button on the remote control, which helps you accelerate, while turning the control to avoid walls, other cars, and – every so often – dark abysses.

The screen is split in two, so that you can watch your opponent’s race as well.

In the first several attempts, I did not have to do much to find myself hammered against walls, falling in abysses, and ending in last place. Mom was certainly having a hard time adapting to the oh-so-sensitive remote control.

But after playing the game for a while, my hands became steadier and my stats started improving.

As I realized that my little car had finished in fourth, then third place, my competitive spirit kicked in and I decided to get ahead of my opponents.

That’s when I started playing with one eye on my screen and the other on my daughter’s race.

I wanted to know her placement.

I had to see what extra powers she had acquired.

I tried to copy her moves.

And every time my eyes got off my lane, my race, I watched my little car plunge into an abyss, or hit a wall.

So long as I kept my eyes on my game, my car ended pretty well. Not first place — but not bad for this Atari generation mom. But the moment I decided to pay attention to the other cars in the race, I would lose my place and fall behind.

The popular video game made me think of something that I believe has become increasingly challenging in our society.

In this era of social media and reality TV shows, where we find ourselves comparing our not-so-glamorous lifestyles, inexpensive summer plans or struggling relationships to the Joneses on the screen, I believe many of us are crashing and burning, simply because we don’t focus on our own race.

Many of us are crashing and burning, simply because we don’t focus on our own race.
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Whether comparing our bodies, children, marriages, jobs, friendships or ministries, we are living at a time of social distraction, where the grass seems always greener on the other side, and we often fall in the trap of pushing our way into someone else’s lane.

As I browse through my journal for the past year or so, it is evident that God has been working on this very issue in my life: “Stay focused on your race. Do not compare. Do not copy others. Just listen to My prompting and follow Me.”

Just as my thumbprints are unique, so are God’s plan for my life. My neighbor’s race was never meant to be a standard by which I measure my own success. Her fingerprints are hers. So is her race. God’s timing for each story is unique to that person’s readiness to fulfill their destiny. We must not forget that.

God’s timing for each story is unique to that person’s readiness to fulfill their #destiny.
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May God help us stop wasting precious time and energy comparing ourselves to or mimicking others. Rather, let us concentrate on doing our very best on the lane God gave us to run. For then, even if we do not finish first, even if our journey is not as rich and full of applause as someone else’s, all that matters is that we finish our exclusive, individual course, and finish it well. That’s true success, not necessarily as the world views it. It’s success – God’s way.

This article was originally published in Patricia’s Column for The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) on Saturday July 8th, 2017.

Struggling to stay focused on your own race? Constantly comparing yourself to others? Read this!
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