I already have two other posts ready to publish, but something occurred this week at my yoga class that reminded me of one more life-lesson, I need to tell myself often. Just one; so, this will be short. Promise. Here it is:
It’s true. I wish I did things perfectly, first time. I don’t. Often it takes, not just practice, when it comes to things I want to learn, or grow in, but it takes tweaking. If I’m going to truly change, then I need to make some adjustments. Major and minor ones.
This past week, I happened to go to yoga during a time in the morning when it wasn’t very busy. I also happened to have the same teacher each of those three sessions, which is rare. It was a little intimidating, because I couldn’t hide behind the other students who would restrict the vision of my instructor. Thus, he saw my every move. Instead of letting me just slide by, he called me out. He’d offer little pieces of advice, simple things like, “Arch your back more; bend your knee if you need to – the important thing is to get your head on your knee; don’t let go of your grip; lock your knees…both of them; keep your focus on one point, you are shifting your gaze…” Stuff that made a difference. These were things I didn’t see, or was not doing, even if I thought I was. Yet every little piece of advice, helped me get the most out of the current pose. Not only did I get a diatribe of things to adjust, but he was encouraging. “That’s perfect! Right there, that’s your posture.” Each call of my name, pushed me to work a little bit harder, and I found myself using some muscles in ways I obviously hadn’t been using them. I was a little bit sore the next day. That’s a good thing.
Course corrections. Tweaking. Adjustments. The problem is I don’t always see my own blind spots. It’s important to find someone who can speak truth to me in a such a way that I don’t take it personally, only practically. Someone I know is “for” me…someone who makes doing my life just a bit uncomfortable at times, because they love me, and want me to be the best me I can be…for Jesus’ sake. Someone who will encourage me when I get it right, yet not let me slide into bad habits, bad form, or a toxic attitude. “Peg, stop grimacing, put on a happy smiling face.”
I want to change. As Max Lucado said this week in one of his tweets (gotta love Twitter), “Do you think you can’t ever change? Do you worry you’ll be stuck forever with the same attitudes? Don’t worry. You are tweakable.” Yes, I am. I just need to keep making course corrections. It simply helps more when someone who knows more does the instructing. Yes, tweakable. It can be a frightening venture into that world of learning, and being stretched (correctly), but also rewarding.