If you could have seen me with the heavy extension cord around my neck, two dumbbells in my hands panting like a deer after the water brook you might have thought I was nuts.

I did.

I’ll explain the extension cord in a minute.

But the younger man who stopped his garbage truck to tell me I was an “inspiration” saw the whole thing differently.

At that moment I was talking to myself and sure this was a bad idea – stop, back off, it’s hot, you’re sixty-three and doing too much.

Yet he saw an older guy pushing himself on his weighted two-mile walk and upper body routine and cheered me on.

What a sight!

You know, strenuous, satisfying, a struggle to start and to stay the course, fighting body aches, pain and looking foolish.

But listening to myself is probably the hardest part.

I hate the mind games.

An inner voice clamors for control and the battle is intense. At least for me it is.

Our Christian walk is like that isn’t it?

Temptations calling out to give in or give up. 

Striving for spiritual goals while feeling unfit, faint and yet pursuing.

Life-challenges that your enemy uses to steal, kill and destroy your hope and sense of well-being. 

A story replaying in your mind because of a failure or poor decision that allows the shout of regret to drown out the voice of redemption. 

We all carry some weights on our walk through this life.

And our mind plays games.

I’ve learned that feelings are terrible guides, especially when your walk gets a little rough.

I’ve also learned that it’s better to talk to myself about what God says than to listen to my flesh and feelings!

This verse helps me win those battles in the mind 2 Cor. 10:3-6.

If it’s worth pursuing, it’s worth perspiring to attain – but you’ll need to pray to prevail. So, I don’t just talk to myself, I talk to Jesus who made me a promise (Matt. 11:28-30).

There are days when the best I can do is be patient and kind to myself while I regroup or recover. I tell myself to look to Jesus, not what everyone else is doing or achieving.

Other days, I draw encouragement by someone who sees the effort and cheers me on while I press on – like the garbage collector or these guys (Judges 8:4).

Halfway into my walk the other day cars were running over an extension cord. It was long, high quality, very heavy and now torn at one end and getting ruined.

Realizing I could repair it, it got coiled and placed around my neck. It also reminded me that some people are carrying a little extra weight in their walk today. 

I’m cheering for you and have a question for you:

Where’s life feeling a little heavy right now and you need to talk to yourself about what God says instead of letting feelings be your guide? Reply and share it with me. I love hearing from you and read every response. If there’s Scripture that gets you through, please share that too.

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