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Writer's pictureAndy Neillie

Perspective



Spiritual Training Cycle: Connection (wk. 3/13)

 

Thrusters are the Worst

I used to think burpees were the worst exercise known to man. Then I got introduced to thrusters.  Start with a weighted barbell ground-to-overhead move, then, with the barbell extended overhead, do a deep squat while simultaneously lowering the barbell to your shoulders. As you extend from your squat, you also push the barbell back overhead. That’s a thruster. Who thinks of these exercises? What kind of torture did they experience that caused them to want to get even?

 

One day last week, the workout at my CrossFit gym included three rounds of repeat thrusters combined with repeat gymnastic moves: 12 minutes of continuous rounds of 12 thrusters and 12 pull-ups, 2 minutes of rest, then 8 minutes of 8 thrusters and 8 bar muscle-ups, 2 minutes of rest, then finally 4 minutes of 4 thrusters and 4 ring muscle-ups. Oh – and you added weight to the barbell between each set!

 

I failed miserably

While several athletes around me raced through multiple rounds during each set of this workout, I struggled to get more than two rounds during each of the three different sets. I was bent over gasping for air every chance I got.

 

That’s when I remembered three things: first, our coaches always remind us that we aren’t comparing ourselves against others in the gym. Additionally, the foster dog we’d taken in two days earlier had led to a couple of sleep-deprived nights and my body was hurting. And finally, while I wasn’t at my best during the workout, it wasn’t too long ago that the very idea of multiple rounds of repeat thrusters was beyond me.

 

Having a long-term perspective changes things

Here’s the realization I came to: one bad workout in the whole scheme of things is not that significant. The bigger perspective: I’m not who I used to be (even when it comes to thrusters!), and I look forward to a better future.

 

Paul shared a similar spiritual perspective with his apprentice Titus

Paul came from a very legalistic upbringing. From what we know of Titus, he grew up in an environment where anything was acceptable. In Paul’s short letter to him, Paul described both their past lives as “foolish, disobedient, slaves to passions and pleasures, malice, envy and hatred.” But now both of them had been transformed by the forgiveness and calling of Jesus.

 

Having an eternal perspective changes things

And, having their lives changed by Jesus, things were now different for them. Specifically, Paul reminds Titus that when God’s loving-kindness reached to each of them, they were no longer bound by their old broken ways, but now “have become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:7).  The hope of eternal life was not just some for the distant future – it changed their perspective on who they were in the present world as well.

 

Questions for Reflection:

How do you keep the long-term perspective in mind when you have the periodic bad day at the gym?

 

How does having a long-term, eternal perspective on your spiritual life change how you view your current life and circumstances?

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