Sustaining our wellness over the holidays–lessons from an Ironman
Challenging limiting beliefs and continuing to take healthy daily steps
As we enter this holiday season, let’s continue to examine this idea of our health as a walk.
To review, our definition of health includes physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Relating it to a walk implies that it takes small, consistent steps to strengthen our formation in these areas (see previous post: Health as a walk).
It can be difficult to press on towards our goals this time of the year. Our schedules get busier with more activities, our actual plates fill up with more sweets and treats, and for those of us living in the higher latitudes, seasonal affect disorder is real.
If we’re not intentional, we can easily neglect to fuel ourselves in healthy ways and end up sputtering through the holidays running on empty.
For this post, I decided to dig into my writing vault and pull out the closest thing I have to an inspirational “you got this!” message. I wrote it in 2017 after I trained for and completed a full Ironman–an endurance race that consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26.2-mile run.
I share this section in hopes that it will reveal some of our limiting beliefs. It also reinforces the idea of health as a walk. We’ll discuss these in more detail following my soapbox moment.
Excerpt from: “Danielle Joyce… you… are… an… Ironman!”
(If you want to read my full race report–which is a bit of a novel–you can access it here: Training for an Ironman)
I get a bit indignant when someone learns about what an Ironman entails and immediately responds, “Oh, I could never do that.” I could understand, “I would never want to do that” or “I would never choose to do that,” fair enough. I’m not implying that everyone should go out and complete an Ironman.
But saying “I could never do that” is a cop-out.
It’s like they’re somehow saying that people who complete an Ironman must have some innate strength or advantage that enables them to do it, and that they lack this trait. This imagined disparity can then be used to explain away the point of even trying.
They would rather place someone on a pedestal and explain their accomplishments in that regard than admit to themselves that, through hard work and perseverance, they could achieve the same thing.
Let me give you a short list of some people who have completed an Ironman: Dick Hoyt, Rudy Garcia-Tolson, Charlie Plaskon, Sister Madona Buder, and Jon Blais.
Dick has completed several full Ironmans, pushing, pulling, and dragging his adult disabled son through the entire 140.6 miles.
Rudy was born with a congenital abnormality, had both legs removed, and has completed his races wearing above-knee prostheses.
Charlie was born blind and was 69 years old when he completed his first Ironman.
Sister Madona (aka The Iron Nun) didn’t start running until she was nearly 50, and finished her last Ironman at age 82.
Jon Blais signed up and completed his Ironman after being diagnosed with ALS.
None of them started on a physical or genetic pedestal. In fact, they completed their events from points of significant disadvantage. There are countless more names of people who have completed an Ironman under incredible and seemingly impossible circumstances.
So please, don’t trivialize words like never and can’t.
Don’t sell yourself or the human spirit short.
You don’t have to devote yourself to train for and complete an Ironman if that’s not a goal you deem worthy. But the same traits of hard work, perseverance, and courage can be applied to infinite other life goals.
Innate ability vs hard work
My husband and I decided over a year in advance that we were going to train for an Ironman. We worked to achieve a decent baseline fitness, and then every day for 6 months, we completed specific workouts. Neither of us rolled out of bed one morning with the natural ability to complete a 140-mile race.
Yet, we tell ourselves that Greg, in our small group, who has an incredible grasp and recall of scripture, must have a great memory. Or that our friend Rhonda, who never appears frazzled or raises her voice towards her kids, was born with the world’s most peaceful disposition. And that six-pack Sally (we call her that in our head–not to her face) is certainly blessed with a much better metabolism than our own.
We do ourselves a disservice when we dismiss admirable traits of others as innate ability rather than acknowledge what is more likely the truth: that their success is a result of persistent, healthy habits, over a long period of time.
Once we challenge these false narratives, we realize that the traits and results we praise in others are within our reach as well. Rather than looking at someone’s success and saying, “I could never do that,” we can use it as motivation: “If she can do it, so can I!”
Motivation vs discipline
There’s a common saying: Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. I was not motivated at every step of the way to complete every workout on my Ironman training plan. But I was disciplined, because though it did not guarantee the result I wanted, I knew it was the only possible way to reach the goal.
Discipline is more than just will-power, which fatigues quickly and is a poor impetus for lasting change. Discipline involves performing healthy behaviors in a way that involves small, continual steps and involves habit formation.
We must be realistic and prayerful about what changes and goals we should take on in different seasons of our lives so that our efforts remain sustainable and life-giving.
Putting it into action
Stop, think, and pray: What specific healthy habits or goals do you want to keep taking strides towards this Holiday season?
Are there any thoughts that you are telling yourself that are creating barriers to achieving this goal?
How can you reframe those thoughts into a more positive perspective?
What is your plan for when your motivation wanes (and it will): What habits or reinforcements are in place to keep you on course?
I would love to hear your thoughts and comments below. Please share any healthy habits or goals, big or small, that you are currently working on.
I want to keep losing weight, which I've steadily been doing since February, but this is the most challenging season for it