Go Beyond Your Limits

“Do the things you think you cannot do. Aim beyond what you think you are capable of. “

-unknown

Have you ever felt like you’ve reached the end of your rope? You’ve done everything you can to accomplish a certain goal and you’re finally at the place where you feel like you don’t have much else to give. What if there is so much more that you really can do? What if the place you feel is your limit is really just the tip of the ice burg of what you are really capable of?

Going beyond what you feel like you can do is often uncomfortable. It’s a place where you have to push yourself mentally, emotionally and physically. In order to push past what you think you can do, you must first change how you think because what you think and believe is often what will happen.

I remember a time when my husband and I were first dating, and I wanted to do something to impress him. We decided to take a walk around the LSU lakes which is about 3.9 miles to get some exercise, but instead of walking I challenged him to run the full lake with me. Before that time I’d ran the lakes but it had been a year or so before that time. So we started off by stretching, and as we stretched I’m pumping myself up in my head telling myself , ” I can do this.” After stretching we took off running. I was doing so great in the beginning but once we reached the middle stretch I was starting to lose my breath. I slowed down the pace and my thoughts started to run wild. I’d begin to ask myself, “What in the world were you thinking?” “Why did you do this?” At the same time I still wanted to make a good impression so I begin to tell myself, ” I can do this!” “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” As I begin to change my thoughts I begin to feel the momentum change. I started running fast and picking up the pace, after a while I reached something called a runners high, that’s when I started to feel like a roadrunner. Once that runners high kicked in I was unstoppable and I finished strong and I have to say that he was really impressed. We laughed at the end when I told why I challenged him to run.

As I looked back on that moment I realized that the limitation I experienced in the beginning started with a thought. As I begin to change my thinking and challenged my inner voice to speak positive, I was able to accomplish my desired goal. Your thoughts manifest in more ways than you may sometimes realize. When you are really aware of your thoughts and begin to push past the limits that are often created in your mind there is really no limits to what you can do.

Life is sometimes just like my experience running around the lake. You are constantly moving through life and experiencing different moments where you are tempted to give up because you feel like you are doing all you can. Your constantly working hard giving life all that you have but life seems to be spinning out of control and you are struggling to keep your breath. I want to encourage you to keep running. Keep working hard, keep praying, keep standing in faith and believing that what you are working towards, will happen. You may feel like you’ve given your all but what if there is more that you haven’t yet pushed yourself to? What if you challenge yourself to give a little more time, energy and attention to reaching that goal? What if you are a lot closer to reaching your goal than you think and all you have to do is push a little more?

You never really know how far you can go until you push yourself to the max. Don’t allow the frustration of a moment or season to keep you stuck. Push past your imposed limitation, take the risk you are afraid to take, and do a little more than you think you can. You’ve come so far, don’t stop in the middle of the process. Go beyond what you think you can!

Thanks for reading!

What are some goals you are pushing towards in this season of life? What limits have you had to push pass?

I would love to hear your stories, please take time to comment below.