I'm down about ten pounds from my normal winter weight, and guess what? I've noticed that I'm running faster, feeling better, recovering from workouts more quickly. We won't explore the reasons I've lost the weight, suffice it to say I'm eating less and working out more. Calories in, calories out. Those who I've mentored on their weight loss journeys have found similar truths, that workouts get a lot easier and running pace increases as the pounds come off. Keep the weight on, and the workouts seem impossible. All of that extra weight carried over the course of a run limits both the distance and pace you can cover. Carrying emotional "weight" and baggage by choosing not to forgive can be just as limiting and even more debilitating. So many people go through life burdened by resentment - thinking that in some way, they are hurting the person who wronged them by denying forgiveness. It can literally impede progress and personal growth. The feelings of negativity, revenge, and hatred become all-consuming, often leaving us depressed and bitter. Choosing to forgive someone is not condoning what they did to us, but it is the first step in setting us free from the burden of carrying around the offense. Forgiveness will release healing into our lives and keep bitterness from growing. When I struggle to forgive, I remind myself that forgiveness should be based on what God has done for us, not on what another person has done to us. It's not easy dropping weight - and it's sometimes even tougher dropping the baggage of resentment we carry towards others. But it allows us to find peace, to walk a bit lighter, free from the stress and anxiety we carried for far too long. ...and while it doesn't change the past, it can only serve to enlarge our future.
PHIL 4:13
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