Keep Moving!
Two pertinent pieces of information are necessary before I proceed. I was diagnosed with cutaneous lupus about 6 years ago, and I am a ‘9’ on the Enneagram (an ancient personality type journey). My lupus affects primarily my skin, joints, and causes extreme fatigue. Being a ‘9’ on the Enneagram, I struggle at times with doing because my thoughts and feelings often talk me out of acting. Knowing these two significant aspects of me will help you understand why the following statement brought me such joy and a sense of accomplishment. “I hiked four trails in five days, approximately 18 miles, while visiting family in Arizona recently.” That is HUGE for me!
This stimulated my thinking to refocus on the importance of balancing body, mind, and soul --- or the doing, thinking and feeling parts of who we are. In addition, we are communal beings --- our relating to one another assists in sharpening the area we are weakest in. I repress doing when I allow myself to be overwhelmed with thinking and feeling --- add in the extra ingredient of lupus --- you have a perfect recipe for paralysis of action, second guessing, and a ‘giving in’ to the body’s need to remain stationary. (Sidebar: I have a whole hypothesis of why 9’s are prone to auto-immune diseases, but that will be a conversation for another day.)
My daughter was my cheerleader, motivator, and initiator to keep us moving, exploring, and embracing the exertion on our vacation to Arizona. My sister joined us on a couple hikes also. We made memories, laughed and commiserated about our aches and pains, bug bites, snow, ice, heat and direct sunlight (lupus like vampires do not respond well to sunlight). What a true blessing to experience such varying terrains and beauty through desert, mountains, steep ascents, blessed plateaus, trickling creeks, ice-covered trails, snowy paths, towering red rock, forests, canyons, cacti in abundance, rocky paths, boulder obstacles, and the list could continue. Here’s the thing… most of the time I would have talked myself out of these adventures, and I would have missed out on all of the beauty that awaited me. Because we were created to balance body, mind, and soul, we are not complete if we repress one or only depend on our dominant predisposition. By moving my body, my mind became more clear and focused and optimistic. I was able to see and then feel the peace, joy, and thankfulness that accompany a day of beholding nature’s beauty. Our precious Creator designed us in such a way that we are our best self when all three components are present and working together!
Since my go-to is minimize activity and exercise, this trip was an opportune chance to reset, reboot, and reenergize! Don’t misunderstand – I do participate fairly consistently in some type of low-impact exercise, but I don’t normally push physical limits. In recent years, my mind has conditioned my body to believe it can’t be pushed too far --- it can’t handle it. Surprisingly, it is capable of much more than I thought or felt could be accomplished.
I’m not going to sugar coat my experience. By the end of the second hike my back was screaming “bloody Mary” and by the end of the fourth my legs were in pain to the point it was a challenge to keep moving. But it didn’t stop me. I caught my breath, rested, and pushed through! (And tried not to be too jealous that my daughter had hardly broke a sweat and seemed to have no issues with breathing heavily --- yes, you can envision my eyes rolling). And oh, the places we beheld because I didn’t give up.
What a beautiful analogy to faith in our Lord. With faith, we choose to believe that which we can’t see, that which has not become sight yet. Sometimes our mind focuses on doubt and convinces us that any more forward movement in faith won’t result in the promise becoming reality. Our emotions confirm with fear, anxiety, fatigue, and we stop right before the bend that leads to the summit. And oh, how we miss out on God’s best for us! We are able to do more than we think --- not because of us but Him who holds us. Don’t miss out on the beauty from ashes phenomenon because you are afraid of what lies ahead or think you don’t have what it takes! Physically, my mantra this last year has been show up and do something --- MOVE! Same is true for us spiritually --- show up, spend time with your Lord – just by seeking Him you are doing something. And when He instructs you to move – take one step – all the others are directed by that one movement forward!