And Suddenly It Happened

The gorgeous view from today's successful mileage builder.

Today was a personal best for me on my board. It's the fastest I've ever gone. I was surprisingly able
to not only keep up with one of the owners of the SUP shop, but even stay somewhat ahead of her. This has never happened before! I told her she must be having an off day...either that or the 30 pound dog on her board was slowing her down! She said, "Lori, give yourself more credit than that! You're upping your game and improving greatly!" It felt good to hear that.

Since I first took up this sport, I had not really been trying to compete with myself or anyone else. I just wanted to get good enough in order to enjoy it even more. But to know that I had improved this much without even really trying just goes to show that if you are consistent with something, you can't help but get better. And like most other sports or activities, you usually do better when you participate with others who are better than you. I've found this to be true in the past with other activities I've been involved in such as dance and rock climbing.

Just in the past couple of weeks I have started doing the mileage builders with the SUP shop owners and other regular paddlers, so I have had that opportunity to participate with people better than me. And today, it felt like something just clicked and I hit my stride in such a natural way. It wasn't anything I was trying to do in my own power. It just suddenly happened.

All of this serves as a reminder that we need to remain persistent in our spiritual walk and surround ourselves with people who challenge us, hold us accountable, help us grow stronger in our walk with Christ. When we do, God can suddenly give us His power to accomplish things we never thought possible.