Challenges

This was my Black Belt testing when I was forty.

I had just broken my toe the week before, as I was taking my pretest for black belt. If you look closely in the photograph, you can see that my toes are wrapped. 

It was a test. It was a test on more than one level. It was a test that I was not willing to forgo. I had worked too long to get to that place.

I wasn't the best in the room and I definitely wasn't the youngest. I was forty years old, at the time. It was challenging, to say the least.

I was awarded my black belt that day.

It was not earned that day. It was earned in the three years of preparation leading up to that moment. It was in the group training twice a week, the training on my own, and in the rising early, every day, each summer, for additional training.

It was in the investment of someone else's time, who cared enough to make a difference. It was in the principles learned, the patience and endurance that developed, and in the lifelong friendships that were formed. 

I didn't realize how much of a gift the process was, until now.

I did not know where the next ten years would take me and the difficult places that were ahead.

The principles that were learned are applicable for not only physical development, but also for spiritual, mental, and emotional development.

If we want to overcome spiritual difficulties and life difficulties, we must build strength, over time. We do not need to wait until struggles and challenges show up. 

We need time with God, every day. We cannot do anything without Him. 

We need to pray. We need to acquaint ourselves with His Word. We need to lean in close enough to hear the faintest whisper from His voice.

Some things that I have learned:

1. Becoming strong doesn't happen, overnight.

2. Becoming strong is not something we can do on our own.

3. With every success, small or great, there has been a price that was paid.

4. Every choice, small or great, makes a significant difference in us and those  of whom we have influence.

5. The rewards in life are always worth the effort it took to achieve them.