One Day at a Time

In the world of fitness, we do our best to set goals regularly. Without them, it can be difficult to understand what you’re working for, outside of simply being healthy, which is still a worthy pursuit. Goals help us focus on something we want or need to achieve, and by setting a goal, our conscious and subconscious mind can start working on the obstacles in our way or the work we need to complete to accomplish our goals.

With so much around us in constant change, looking at the long term can be overwhelming. When we wonder what tomorrow, or the next week or year will bring, our minds automatically assess all the possible things that can slow us down or get in the way of what we hope to accomplish. We wonder about finances, stress, relationships and many other things that can influence our chances of success. Instead of helping, this constant assessment of what can be problematic in the future can actually weigh us down and slow down our progress. We need to understand and be aware and realistic about what the future might bring, but also focusing on the minute we’re in, as we’re not guaranteed the next.

In the Bible, Jesus uses short parables to help us understand what it looks like to focus on each day, as well as the wisdom in understanding the value of the day we’re in.

Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” and later in Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

We can only do so much each day. by taking some time to think about what is most important, we can let some of the stress about the future go. We realize we’re doing the best we can with every minute, and that is enough. We can gather incredible peace from the above verses knowing God has a plan for our lives - without this understanding, it’s easy to be overwhelmed, especially if we try to control every detail of our lives.

Being able to know we’ll have obstacles in front of us, but know God will use those obstacles for good, for us or others, and will provide what we need to get through those obstacles allows us to take on today, knowing we’ll work through tomorrow’s troubles as they happen. And, because of what we learn and accomplish today, we’ll be stronger for tomorrow.