We added a new exercise ‘Hanging in the moment’ which is a little unusual from the others since most of the work is spent hanging in one place. Its a bit more difficult than it sounds, and gravity works against you for this one. Today’s topic is probably my favorite one yet, and was really important to me.

NOTES:

Pretty straightforward, sometimes we get stuck in place and the best thing we can do is hold on. Your going to grab the pull-up bar and hang there and do a leg raise, try and touch to top, and do it again. If you are not comfortable doing that level just raise your knees to your chest. Drop off and get back in line and circle. The next person goes up.

WOD:

“As Thyself..”

Usually I know when what I want to talk about is the right subject is when I feel like I have to tell people about it. This week I was going to tell the story of the man in the red hat, which is a great story about loving God no matter what your circumstances are. However, something else came up this week that felt more important to talk about. The idea came up after reading this prayer:

“Heavenly Father, relationships can get messy, and boundaries are hard. Please be with me as I reflect on my relationships and consider where healthy boundaries need to be established. It is through your strength that I can have important conversations, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. Give me the courage and the confidence to set the right boundaries in all of my relationships. In Jesus name, AMEN.”

The context for this prayer is Jesus’ words in the gospel of Mark: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Mark 12:31)

I’m sure everyone has heard that before, and about loving your neighbor as yourself – but have you ever really given much thought about what that second part means.. “As thyself“? That’s a really important statement that I think most people have overlooked. Normally its the neighbor part that gets the most attention, but how many have considered what God is saying there about you?

To love thyself: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself“

You can’t love others unless you love yourself first and I believe there’s a real important message in that verse that’s hidden in plain sight. By loving ‘thyself’ one is set FREE.. free to love others without prejudice, without biterness, jealousy, hatred, etc. How many of those negative emotions and actions we express come from how we feel about ourselves? Pretty much all of them.

Another related quote I like to use is “The relationships we form with others is a reflection of the relationship we have with ourselves”. I think that’s a great statement and so true.

So ask yourself today, how can I learn to love myself more and how can I use that love to benefit my relationship with others in my life. Its an incredible feeling when you get to a point in life where you can look in the mirror and thank God for the amazing person standing in front of you.

Get to work on that folks..