This is when it gets hard (thoughts on being in the middle)
This is when it gets hard. That’s what I thought to myself yesterday when a friend started talking about a new Facebook group she started.
This is when it would be easy to rationalize re-starting my account, so easy to take that step toward losing control again, and so hard to stay firm in what I already know: that Facebook is unhealthy for me.
A friend was talking about her desperation to lose weight and how she’s tried, over and over, to lose those extra pounds that hurt her health and sense of well-being. She said that the first few weeks of a new diet are easy. Then it gets hard.
I nodded. I can’t identify with the need to lose weight, but I can identify with that feeling of wanting to give up because to keep going feels impossible. Right now, I’ve hit that point with my publication efforts, with my second novel, with my calling as a writer. The first wind of enthusiasm is long-since gone, and putting word after word on a page, with no deadline or endpoint, seems so hard.
I’m in the middle. Middles are hard.
There’s always a point in every journey where things get hard, almost impossible. You’re far from the start, but the end point isn’t in sight. And if we’re honest, the endpoint may never be there. We may never achieve our goal. I may never get my novel published or have optimal mental health. My friend may never reach her goal weight. My church may never rebuild momentum after the split. I hope that it does, but the possibility of failure and defeat is real.
So what’s the point of continuing on, even when circumstances are difficult?
It’s about the kind of person you become in the process. What kind of character am I building? What kind of person am I becoming? I don’t want to be the kind of person who gives up easily. I want to finish strong.
Mom always said “enjoy the process”; then there is no middle or end. Incidentally, Austin Boyd might be a great mentor for you in the writing process.
Your mom is a wise woman…I hope that I can learn to enjoy this process!
Very Pauline, Laura. (Acts 20:24.) Well done.
Tim
I never even thought about that aspect of it!
You’re scriptural without even thinking about it!
My pastor recently did a series based on Proverbs 12:24 The and of the diligent will rule but the lazy man will be put to forced labor. All about building our lives by doing what the Lord has given us a vision for. He spent a message on The Middle. He had 5 key points:
1) don’t quit. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (the valley of being scared, frustrated, etc) Keep Going!
2) renew my vision–or my dream will perish. Sometimes life is about simply staying on your feet
3) surround my with the right people
4) remind myself if my victories and what God has done for me (the enemy reminds me of my failures)
5) Align my words with my vision–speak life over it
The middle is hard and we don’t know how long it will last. And like you said, it’s about the person we’re becoming. God is making us into the person who can handle the results of the success we’ve earned, who can handle his vision for us. Because the end, I think, is actually a new beginning.
Great thoughts, and thank you so much for sharing them. Very encouraging!
I am struggling to lose weight myself, but being kind of tall I am not what you would call fat or obese at all; but I am overweight all the same. It is hard to give certain things up I think because they become a habit. Good or bad things, it doesn’t really matter; we find we can’t do without them, or think we can’t.
I identify with you because I have mental health issues and I’m an aspiring writer as well. I ask God into both things; as a result of this I haven’t had serious depression for many many years, and as for the writing, I just write and pray one day I’ll get published. Every person who strives for a goal has doubts, but God is bigger than the doubts.
“God is bigger than the doubts.” I love that! Best of luck with the weight loss and writing!
Or, as Veggie Tales put it, “God is bigger than the Boogie Man”.
Tim