I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
The video began with a middle-aged woman explaining that it is low impact and designed to be light on the joints and back. Recently, I decided that I needed to add lifting weights to my weekly exercise regimen.
After intentionally taking a mental and physical health journey for the last few years, I finally started seeing some results. Many doctor visits, EKG, stress test, colonoscopy, several extensive blood tests, physical therapy, research, study, and much scripture and prayer. I finally had some answers and workable plans.
My heart is healthy. Boundaries have been set. Joint and back pain is under control. Energy is increased. I have found a little church where I could get plugged back in. Joined a Bible Study every other Tuesday. Joined the worship team. Returned to swimming two to three times per week. From September 2023 to present, I have lost 45 lbs. My soul is filled, my body lighter. My A1C is down to 5.2.
Feeling so much better physically and mentally, I am finally at a place to adventure into balancing all of this with new things. I decided it was time to add weights, to build strength in my body and fill my mind with God who gives me that strength.
Weightlifting helps with balance and strength. I need both. In late 2022, through summer 2023 I could barely walk. My joints were excruciating. Balancing myself was impossible and walking up and down stairs was flat dangerous, and I live in a mobile home elevated by stairs and a raised kitchen floor, with vents that are extremely easy to catch your shoes on. Sharing for a friend…. It was so bad I commissioned my nephew to make me a cane, almost resolved to the fact that I might need it forever. My weight was at an all-time high.
God is so good, and I am so grateful that I had an encouraging friend in Kathy Carlton Willis, whose personal struggle and honest assessment of my situation empowered me to step up to the plate and hit a home run one ball at a time. We cannot fix anything when we do not try anything, and we resolve to stagnate. Balance involves movement. Intentional, strength building movement.
So, I typed in Google, weightlifting for beginners. A video popped up called Weightlifting for Beginners and Seniors. That’s me. At least by my childhood standards, 55 was senior status. Safe right?
Brutal. Balancing life is sometimes brutal. Building strength can also be brutal.
How can swimming thirty-two 50-meter laps in a swimming pool (half mile) be easier for me than a 20-minute weightlifting video? BALANCE. You are buoyant in the water; all the pressure is off, and your body floats. On land, it is much harder because of gravity and the imbalance of our bodies. Balance is harder when we do not have a crutch or a counterbalance like buoyancy.
If we lean heavenly and heavily on Jesus, he is the counterbalance in all things. The center of our mental fortitude. The power behind knowing we can do ALL things through Christ. I can do this video more than once. I can fight through the desire to quit, the mental challenge of believing, and my bodies resistance to change. It is all good, and God is all in it with me.
I love the new balancing act of physical health and mental health. Join me. No matter where you are in balancing strength, you can always start. It is worth it. Stay with me on this journey of obtaining balance in life. I hope to hear your journeys too. It is a daily battle for ALL of us. However, God is clear
We can do ALL things through Christ who gives US strength.
Jesus, we love you. Living is hard. Exercising our bodies and our minds is work. Hard work. You stand with us. You life the weights of heaviness in our minds and in our physical arms. You carry our heavy load. Remind us you are with us in it. Keep our feet moving forward and our minds churning towards complete balance in you.
Susanne Moore 