I’m
an athlete.
This
statement has become real to me since I haven't been able to run.
I’ve
been injured since mid-May.
This
means that my running 50 miles a week dwindled to nothing.
Now,
it’s back on the rise…8 miles last week! Woohoo!
But
as I’m writing this,
I
have yet another new pain in my foot.
During
this time of no running
and
the school year coming to an end,
I’ve
had a lot of free time.
A
lot.
Free
time that I planned on using as running time.
But
I can’t run.
And
I still have this free time.
Athletes
are adrenaline junkies.
It’s
our addiction.
Our
drug of choice.
I
don’t do well with so much free time.
No
new goal or new height or new distance or new pace.
I feel
so blah.
Like
I am just going through the motions.
No
purpose.
Day
in and day out.
Focusing
on the things ahead
and
not paying attention to all that is in between.
Only
to find that the thing I was looking towards isn’t nearly as great as I had
hoped.
Along
with that disappointment,
is
the loss of all the sacred time from here
to
the not-so-great thing looked forward to.
Intent.
It’s
a word that has been on my heart lately.
Intend.
Intention.
Intentionally.
I
get the feeling that I am supposed to apply these words to my life right now.
But
I am still learning how exactly to do that.
My
current goal is to
live
with intention.
Live
intentionally.
Be
intentional.
I
don’t know exactly what those phrases mean yet,
but
I am learning.
I
think our lives are too precious to be wasted.
We
are meant for more than
drowning in an ice-cream-pint-pity-party
or
getting our Netflix-fix.
Our
lives have meaning.
They
have a purpose.
It
is up to us to seek out that purpose.
To
find the reason.
I
haven’t been doing this ‘living with intent’ thing for long.
I’ve
spent most of my time being injured dwelling on the negative.
It’s
only been recently that I have tried to change my mindset
but
even still, I screw it up multiple times a day.
Today
for example.
I’ve
failed so much more than I will even begin to admit.
I’m
not a pro,
but
I’m trying.
I
certainly know that there is a difference between sitting on the couch all day
or
going out and making the most of the day I’ve been blessed with.
I’m
learning that there is a difference between doing something
and
doing that something with grace.
I’m
figuring out that attitude accounts for much of how we go about our days.
I’m
curious to know how the world would change if we all lived with intent.
I
intend to live.
I
intend to live well.
I
choose to live intentionally.
I
trust that though life is hard,
we
have a God who intends to see us through,
even
in the darkest of times.
