It’s summer!  Sun is shining.  Days are getting longer.  But for some reason you find yourself in a funk.  Dealing with discouragement just as we’re heading into summer?How can that be?

Times of discouragement come when we least expect them.  And it may be nothing more than a couple rainy days, and the feeling will pass when the sun comes out.  Other times we just find ourselves in a funk.  If you’re like me, you like schedules and predictability.  Summer can be far from that.  There are vacations.  Alarm clocks aren’t set every morning.  Activities.  So many things to do and so little time.

Finding encouragement from the hope of Easter. #freedom Click To Tweet

This time of unexplained discouragement and slump makes me think of the first Easter.  Palm Sunday seemed like the day of celebration but we know the dark days that followed.  There were days of sadness and despair.  There was quiet.  We know the end of the story, but on that first Good Friday, they didn’t know the end of the story.  They knew the prophecies, but were they true?  

Talk about dealing with discouragement.  Everything they thought to be true and then this?

We have those days, those times in our lives. We think it’s all good, then……  We seem to hit the lowest of lows.  Everything is dark.  There is quiet.  This wasn’t how we imagined life.  Nothing is as it should be….or so we think.  

How do we deal with the down days?  The dark periods in our marriage?  The seasons when we think our children have turned their backs on everything we’ve raised them to know and be?  The days when we look in the mirror and we’re disgusted with what we see on the outside not to mention the secrets we hold on the inside?   

This being primarily a fitness blog, how can we relate Easter, the despair of Good Friday, and the dark days in the tomb, to our battles in this area of our lives?

Girls, our struggles with weight and body image can bury us.  I know the feelings.  I’ve been there.  These struggles can leave us feeling completely and utterly hopeless and discouraged.  We beat ourselves up for bad choices or workouts missed.  We convince ourselves that we’ll never be able to change,  and thus we resign ourselves to a life lived in a “funk”, stuck, no way out.  We resolve that we’ll never feel comfortable in our own skin.  We’ll never look in the mirror and believe that He was really talking about us when He said you are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.

Do you know what I’m talking about?  Have you been there?  Are you there now?  Are you dealing with discouragement?  In a funk?  Maybe feeling like the grave will never open and the chains will never break?

Freedom?  What’s that?  Oh how I long for it, but I’ll never experience it in this area of my life.  

Dealing with discouragement? In a funk and don't know why? Get some encouragement today. #focus Click To Tweet

But I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to live discouraged.  You don’t have to feel stuck in this funk.  You don’t have to stay bound by the idea that nothing will change and that you’ll never be good enough.  You can change.  There is hope.  No, it’s not found is some special diet or supplement.  It’s not found in a specific exercise routine.  It’s not in a product or even an idea.  

The freedom comes when we get our minds right.  

It happens when we figure out why we’re doing this.  It comes when we stop listening to the clamoring voices telling us about quick fixes or how we’ll never win this battle.  Freedom comes when we start listening to the truth about who we are and find our unique fit.   

So back to Easter.  

I don’t know your story.  I don’t know if you’re experiencing your darkest day or if you’re in the waiting, but I do know the end of the story.  It ends with victory.  It ends with new life.  It ends with freedom.  

Are you ready to open that chapter and start living it?  Maybe you say “YES!” but you’re not sure how to move past this moment.  Contact me at marsha@marshaapsley.com.  Together we can find your fit, and you can start living free!

I’d love for you to join me in my free Facebook community.  It’s a safe place to find support and encouragement on your faith and fitness journey.

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