Be comfortable with being uncomfortable is what I was told at one of my fitness certification classes. It is the same thing I tell myself every time I walk into the physical therapy (PT) room to work on my range of motion. I have come to the point where I do not want to go to PT. When I enter into that room and I am greeted by my physical therapist - Marvin - he always asks me how I am doing. After we greet one another he follows up with something like, "I'm gonna beat you up today cause we gotta stretch that capsule." I laugh and smile and say something back but internally I just want to turn around and walk out.
I have come to the understanding that stretching my shoulder to the point of discomfort is where I will gain an advantage. After rotator cuff surgery I developed a frozen shoulder. So, basically the shoulder capsule has to be stretched and that tissue has to be broken up. The shoulder is stretched to the point of painful discomfort and in that space I have to determine in my mind that I will somehow find mental comfort and contentment. It has been almost 3 months and whether I am stretching with Marvin or stretching at home the pain has to be embraced. Yes, I cry, I get angry, I feel sorry for myself but I press.
Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane which is known as a place where pressing takes place. It is a place where the will is challenged, the will struggles, the soul cries and wrestles with the discomfort. The problem is not the struggle, the problem is giving up in the struggle. Jesus never gave up in the struggle in Gethsemane. Robert C. Crosby said, "Gethsemane is the place where we count the cost, where we consider what it will demand of us to go the way God is calling — all the way. We ponder, we pray. We sweat and we struggle. We weep and we wonder. We play out the scenes of what will be required of us as we follow Him." Read Matthew 26:36-46.
So my sister, you have a choice to give up or be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Stop with the excuses. Stop with the victim mentality. Stop blaming the other person. Stop blaming God. Get some support and get comfortable in Gethsemane. Why? Because the struggle is an onward movement towards an end and the end is your desired result.
Shalom Aleichem
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