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Woohoo! Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year celebration. I hope you went nuts, and I hope you are all as excited about 2k19 as I am! It’s going to be an absolutely fantastic year, and I am positive that God has some awesome stuff packed into this year just for you. I mean, there’s so much good stuff packed into ’19 that I’m not sure how He fit it all in, but it’s all going to happen, so get pumped, get ready, and go for it in this new year full of blessings!

If you haven’t quite figured it out yet, I love running. It takes up a large percentage of my life and I’m so glad that it does because without it, I’d be a little energy bunny on steroids or something. I’m already pretty energetic, but without running, that energy would literally have no where to go, lemme tell ya. Anyways, running has truly changed my life for the better and recently, this past year, I really started getting those gains, as well. I’ve been lifting! Woo! With the addition of lifting, I feel so much better about myself when I look in the mirror. I’m working on those rock hard abs, and working to become more muscular overall. Running is my first love, but adding lifting to my workout schedule has really benefitted me and how I feel about myself. Which brings me to today’s topic—define yourself.

So you probably think that by “define yourself” I mean the definition in your arms and legs and all that. Well, that’s part of it. But what I mean by this is that we’re all human. Yes, yes, I know you know your human, but hear me out. Because we’re all human, we’re not perfect. Therefore, we’re going to make mistakes, screw up, and fall down a few times before we stand up. God understands we’re going to be stupid sometimes. He understands who we are and how no two people are the same in personality, character, or physical appearance. Despite our many, many, flaws, God loves us anyway. We don’t have to strive to be perfect, we simply have to strive to live for God’s purpose for our lives. And sometimes that means stepping back, taking a good, hard, look in the mirror and figuring out what things we, as children of God, can do to work on ourselves for the better.

Most of the time, we don’t realize who we are and the things we say on a day-to-day basis, but when you really step back and listen to some things you say, or look at yourself in the mirror, or take good look at the the thing you are eating, you realize how many things you could work on to become better and healthier and stronger. I’m in no way saying compare yourself to others. Comparing yourself to others will only create a negative mental mindset, which in long-term, will make you feel worse. Compare yourself to yourself. If you aren’t the kindest individual towards people you haven’t met, work on crystalizing and defining the way you are towards others. If your eating habits aren’t great, try to look at what you are stuffing in your face once in a while and find something that will make you feel better later. And, my personal favorite, EXERCISE!

I know I sound like a broken record, but I literally cannot stress enough how good exercise will make you feel. Your body and your brain will be on their knees thanking you that you did. Most people, when they start exercising, compare themselves to others and the long miles people can run, or how heavy they can lift in the gym. Let me tell you, when I rolled up to the gym for the first time, and I saw twelve year old girls lifting over one-hundred pounds above their heads, when I could, maybe, lift around 40ish, I was discouraged. I thought, well, why am I even here? But you know what, I prayed about it, and I got better as time went on. Sure, I still can’t lift over one-hundred pounds above my head, but that’s not my goal.

When beginning to exercise, you have to section off goals and what you want to accomplish. For me, I am working towards track season, and eventually, running cross country and track in college. So, my workouts are a lot different than someone training for cross fit. It doesn’t mean I’m not as great as them, my goals are just different. This is what you have to realize. It isn’t about being the best, it’s about doing the best that you can do. It’s about pointing out some things that you could do to be a healthier and stronger individual, defining your goals, and defining yourself. Once you see the muscle definition in your arms, legs, and abs, you’ll never go back. You won’t want to see yourself in any other place. You’ll crave it. I do; when I haven’t done anything in a few days or even a couple weeks, I crave getting back out there. I miss the burning in my lungs and the intensity in my brain. However, that’s just my crazy outlook. Start small, and you’ll see HUGE results. Zechariah 4:10 says, “Do not despise these small beginnings.”

In life in general, there are always things you can improve upon. Don’t beat yourself up about the mistakes you make, or about being perfect. NOBODY IS PERFECT, ONLY GOD IS PERFECT. Realize that you’re awesome, you’ve got the tools to accomplish great things, and the only person holding you back, is YOU. God will catch you if you fall, always. Take the leap! Why not be great? Prove them wrong. Don’t be afraid to separate yourself from the crowd. Define yourself, define your muscles, work on yourself for the glory of God, and always come back for more.

Exodus 23:20 — “See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.”