I live in middle Georgia. The land of “moist heat.” I live in THE balmy summer capital of the world. I haven’t always lived here. I grew up in east Tennessee and I have lived all over the world with my military husband.
Yesterday, our local forecast changed to exhibit the possibility of snow this week. SNOW! For those of you who live in the northern regions of the world, or in high altitudes, your immediate reaction is “big whoopdie doo” I’m sure. However, the people down here are freaking out. Now, where I grew up, snow was kind of rare. But, after moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming, for my husband’s career, snow became a regular part of life; not just snow, but SNOW. We’re talking, crazy deep, fire hydrants had to have markers, survival kit in your car, sub-arctic, I can’t feel my face, wind off the Rockies S.N.O.W. I became conditioned to the weather there. It took a while, it took exposure. It took being in the wind on a daily basis to condition my body to what true cold actually feels like. We just THOUGHT it got cold in Tennessee, and I’m sure people all over the country who are suffering temperatures of -30 degrees or colder would call our Georgia winters “warm.”
Now, when my mom or my friends say things like, “it’s freezing outside,” I often think, “it’s not THAT bad.” I can go without a jacket far more easily than I could have 12 years ago, before I ever left Tennessee.
So where am I going with all this?
Conditioning is in everything we do. We adapt to our surroundings whether we realize it or not. We adjust our ways of life to accommodate the inevitable parts of living, like the weather. We start out suffering, but over time, we get stronger – we become tough – no matter how hard the icy
wind blows. Sometimes conditioning is forced on us by the inevitable and sometimes we CHOOSE conditioning (think marathon running, or T-25 [this is my workout of choice and believe me, the wind was mighty icy when I started, but now, it’s not so bad]).
My question is this – are you preparing for the worst or for the best in your life? Are you becoming conditioned for GOOD or for BAD?
Here’s what I mean; just go with it – keep an open mind, because I’m about to make a sharp turn:
If you position yourself around Godly, successful, positive people. If you live your life in places and around people who can help you GROW, you’ll condition yourself for success.
But if you live your life under a continuous negative cloud and everything you do or say is doom and gloom, if you spend time with people who drag you down but never build you up, if you live with fear and expect failure, you’ll be conditioned for mediocrity.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should dump everyone you know so you can hobnob with the rich and famous — NOT AT ALL, and if you get that out of this post then you’ve got problems — or I’m just that bad as a writer.
There’s a reason we are called to let our lights shine. There is a REASON an anointing has been placed on living your life among like-minded people. You have the power to influence people and situations just as people and situations have the power to influence you. Make sure you’re putting yourself in a position to be conditioned for GOOD. Your attitude is powerful.
Your circumstances will change. Harsh winds may blow. But – if you’ve built a life for yourself on solid rock and you’ve spent time conditioning yourself for success DESPITE your circumstances, harsh winds will seem “not that bad” before you know it.