Pressing on Beyond Surrender

One of my greatest joys in life is riding my bicycle. Sometimes, my bicycle route may take me into new areas with unexpected hills. Or often new route is longer than previous routes and the unfamiliar paths makes them challenging. It is during these times that my body begins to struggle, and I begin feeling like giving up. In those moments, I encourage myself to push the pedal over just one more time, even though my body feels as if it has exhausted all energy. I would think and say to myself that, “I must press on”. I would usually say something like, “one more pedal, one more mile, or one more hour, stay focus. I remind myself of my previous achievements and I keep pressing forward. Mentally, I convert a seemly large challenge (like 20 miles until home) into small increments of achievements. As I pedal one more time, I find the energy to go one more mile, and soon I arrive at my desired destination.

Reflecting on my life, I am amazed at the number of things that I have had to overcome and keep pressing forward. The challenges I faced in life have often broken something within me that would attempt to negotiate my surrender. The challenges faced were those of abusive childhood experiences (non-maternal related), deceased father, gangs, drugs, violence, death, brokenness, destructive relationships, social condemnations, professional degradation, and self-defeating behaviors. I have had to overcome the enemy within and the enemy without. I have had to overcome the friendly enemy and the devil’s agents. I have had to press on beyond the voices of doubt that stemmed from within and was being fed by those without. I have had to overcome hopelessness, fear, self-doubt, self-destruction, self-defeating behaviors, identity crisis, and self-ignorance in the pursuit of discovering that I am more than the negative voice's indictments. I am smart, I am creative, I am innovative, I am loved, I can love, I am a man of God, I am a good man, I am a good father, I am a good husband, I am a great employee, I am an awesome businessman, I am a good teacher, I am worthy, I am blessed, I have favor, I am hopeful, I am all that God has designed me to be. I am God’s child, I have purpose and I am good at what I do.

I am thankful to God for all I have and all I have achieved. I am thankful for all the wonderful family members, friends, cohort 2012, teacher, supervisors, co-worker, mentors, coaches, spiritual directors, professional counselors, and my spouse for helping me to see my potential and value.

1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.