How To Crawl A Mile
Mar 11, 2018
I crawled a mile once, ok maybe twice. I don’t really talk much about it publicly, but once in a while, it comes up. My friend, Chad, also crawled a mile and for whatever reason he and I were both talking about our mile experience last week and how we prepared to accomplish our task.
For me, personally, I never set out to crawl a mile. It just kind of came up. I had been enjoying crawling for quite some time and for “fun” I had begun crawling 40 to 50 minutes at a time; not all the time, but once in a while. It was fun for me because I enjoyed the challenge and the looks of people’s faces in the neighborhood. If you want to make yourself known, go crawl in public frequently. Everyone will know who you are, or they’ll know about you at least. Anyway, I had become infatuated with crawling. I loved doing it and it seemed to love me back. It just made me feel amazing.
One day, while talking to another friend, John Brookfield, about my love for crawling, John said, “I’ll bet you can crawl a mile. You should probably do that.” That was it. The seed was planted. I hadn’t thought about it until John mentioned it. But once John said it, I knew I could do it. Well, I believed I could if I relied on a strength beyond myself. And that’s my secret. I believed. Was it difficult? A little. Was it uncomfortable? The first time it was. Did I train for it? That’s debatable. I had gotten used to being uncomfortable by crawling for extended periods of time, but I never crawled close to a mile without stopping. And though all that time spent crawling did strengthen my body beyond my wildest expectations, it also strengthened my mind and my relationship.
Relationship? It's pretty difficult to crawl for time or distance without talking to yourself, or someone beyond yourself. To put it plainly, I had lots of conversations with God when I crawled. Some were with words and others were just a knowing that I wasn’t alone; which is so wonderful to know. You can wonder if you’re crazy or alone when you do weird things and it’s nice to know you're not alone, just crazy! Anyway, through all my crawling and time spent crawling I began to believe I could do anything if God helped me to do it. That belief carried me a mile on my hands and feet, with my butt held down below my head, while I breathed through my nose. That belief carried me a mile, and beyond…
My friend, Chad, had a similar experience because he too had the same belief. He believed he could do it and he believed he would have help doing it. And he did.
By the way, crawling a mile (Dani added this video because Tim never would - but just in case you wanted to see it) is just nuts. But so is running a marathon or competing in a triathlon. But I think sometimes we are called to be a little nuts because often we really don’t know what we are capable of until something inside of us prods us along, until the relationship invites us to explore our own limits and move beyond them.
The point is, we can do anything we set out to do. If we rely on more than ourselves, and we believe. I really do believe all things are possible to him who believes - that he/she is not alone. The greatest limitations we have are the ones we place on ourselves through doubt and isolation. If we don’t believe something is possible, we secure that impossibility by placing a limit on it. If we don’t believe there is a source greater than ourselves that wants to carry us along, we turn away from the help we need and we cut ourselves off from limitless potential.
Here’s the take home message on how to crawl a mile, or any other insane thing:
You were made to be limitless.
You can do anything you set your mind to do.
You’re not alone.
Believe it.
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