Fight the band

"Fight the band." My trainer at the Y recently said that to me and I told her it sounded like a great name for a rock group. Unfortunately, we were rocking all right, but not in a fun way. She had me wrapped up in one of those stretchy workout bands and the fight was tough.

We all have to fight the band in one way or another. Life doesn't always go our way. We encounter resistance and have to push back. We think we've done all we can, only to find that we must devise a way to stretch a little farther. But the

n a funny thing happens. By not quitting, by exercising our muscles, we get stronger. Sometimes it's our body. Sometimes it's our spirit. Sometimes it’s our heart.

When I was preparing for several weeks of travel earlier this year, this trainer (the best!), designed a workout routine that I could basically do in a hotel room. The truth is, over three months, I rarely did it and when asked what I was going to tell her when I got home, I said I'm gonna’ lie! But who was I kidding - the truth would be painfully obvious soon enough. Thankfully, she chose forgiveness.

But I think we all have to do the same on occasion - forgive ourselves when we’re too beat up to measure up, when we're just too sad, too tired, too uninterested to do more. But at other times –maybe the majority of other times - we can get that steely-eyed glint, take our Rocky Balboa stance, say bring it on, and fight that band. Victory.