Small things aren't so small

In a subscriber email AJ, arabahjoy.com, writes the following:

 "To slay the giant, you've got to be practicing on the lions and bears." Eric Ludy

What if the “small” things you’re doing right now actually aren’t small at all?

I keep replaying the words in my mind. Unlike her intended purpose, I hear them echoing the areas I keep repeating the wrong choices, weaknesses, and struggles. 

I have been desiring to lose those pesky menopause 15 pounds for years now. Even went so far as to commit to 3 weeks of healthy eating which ended in 8 pounds gone. Yet, snow days, stomach flu, and one colossal family work project have cycled back to me alone in my room fighting tears and eating M&M's. 

Sure, I could take this phrase as a testament to the over-a-year process from September 2023 till October 2024 in training and completing a 1/2 marathon successfully. But that feels like pebbles compared to the real battle I continually mask with these outward goals, time-consuming focus on others, and meaningless things, none of which give me any real gratification besides stories I can tell. I am let down and disappointed. I am pretty sure that lands me smack dab with the sting of my own demand for someone, anyone, to be something that only God can actually be. 

Every moment, 86,400 seconds in a day, becomes 604,800 seconds in a week. But seconds are tough to wrap your mind around. Split-second decisions are really that fast. How about minutes? 60 minutes in an hour, 1,440 in a day. O.K., that seems doable. I mean, after all the 30/45/60 I spend raising my heart isn't but 1/24 of my day which is .0416 repeating! The same could be said for other choices. While eating those jelly beans, peeps, or otherwise is enjoyment for those minutes but out of the span of my day, that is such a teeny piece to even care about the longer compounded shift of the choice. 

To slay the giant, I must practice on each opportunity in my day. Only then does it all add up to the results I seek. This is true for time spent, work done, and choices made. Maybe just maybe I can do it after all. One second or minute at a time.