Training to Succeed

 I've had my fair share of physical training in the past. mThere were months of training for Nutcracker or various Spring Show bills- the diets, cross-training, technique classes, rehearsals. Or there were the months of training for birth- prenatal yoga, careful diets, sufficient sleep, books to read, relaxation techniques to practice.  I know how focusing on a goal of something you love can empower you to deny yourself, altering your life in a transforming way.  This is an area of life I feel pretty confident that I understand. But, as I was reading an article today talking about the analogy of sports training used in the Bible I was struck (no pun intended) by a new angle: "I do not box as one hitting the air" (1 Corinthians 9:26).  It was like a treasure box was unlocked and I was excited by this new thought.
  I remember the exhaustion at the end of certain performance pieces; Concierto Barocco, or Dew Drop come to mind.  I remember there were always one or two rehearsals where it felt like you would die at the end- oxygen refused to make it past your shoulders to your fingertips and you just knew there was no way this was ever going to be pretty because you could barely stand upright  by the end. Then, magically, your body would adapt and meet your need and the next rehearsal it would feel easy.  You could run it back to back before you felt that same exhaustion.  But its those struggling grasping rehearsals that I think of when I read that 1 Corinthians passage- not one wasted movement because you're truly not sure if you have stamina for a single extra gesture.  And I feel like much of my life is lived in this space emotionally and spiritually.
  Now, I know that's not entirely true.  There are seasons of coasting where everything is smooth and peaceful, but I wonder how much of my life's energies are wasted by "beating the air"?
  It's summer here which means swim suit season (groan!). How much of my emotional energy is spent on body-image woes and self-consciousness and even covetousness or idolatry as I try to survive water park trips and ventures to the lake? (Don't even talk to me about beach trips to the California coast!)  "As one hitting the air."  When I read that I suddenly realize that rarely am I as motivated to action by the sad state of my spiritual life the way I'm motivated to exercise or diet by swim-suit season, and I realize that I've been spending my limited energy beating the air!  My genetics are an area that I can't touch and in reality are neither here nor there when it's all said and done.  No one says at the end of their life, "I sure looked good in a swim suit though!"  No, I need to save my punches for when it counts.
  Then there's parenting.  This one has no season; once you're in you're in it for life.  Granted there are changes in your babies needs for your degree of  involvement and what your care looks like, but this race is ongoing.  I wonder as hundreds of opportunities of conflict present themselves to me throughout the day how often I am choosing the wrong times to throw a punch.  How much energy do I waste conforming them to my preferences or molding them to avoid my annoyance as opposed to introducing them to the image of Christ?  If I'm at that fatigue point where my gestures are limited it's tempting to sort of flail wildly hoping something "makes contact", but what a waste of precious resources.  My time in this season of specific need with them and my energy to engage meaningfully are frailly limited. God give me grace to not be "as one hitting the air".
  I think a big part of it all is not losing sight of the goal.  Training is intentional, and it works best if that goal is something you love.  Even as you cross-train there is a singular vision, and that's what I need to maintain in my heart and life. That takes me  to Philippians 3:13b-14- "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  I need to fix my eyes on Christ and learn how to train accordingly.