Seven or eight years ago, I had to buy a bike. Anne was learning to ride her little one and I wanted to ride again. Now, I know they say you never forget how to ride a bike, but what you do forget is how HARD it is to ride a bike. Especially up hills. I remember trying to ride from my house up a particular street that happens to be a slight hill and having to get off the bike and walk it to the top of the hill. How embarrassing!
Fast forward to Sunday morning. I was out for what I am calling my “weekly Sunday morning ride” and just happened to head up that same road and pedaled to the top, no problem (this after successfully navigating a number of other, taller, longer hills on my ride that morning), and a line from one of my favorite Trisha Yearwood songs (For A While), ran through my head: “Little victories, I’ll take ’em.” And then I started to laugh. I have ridden up that hill a number of times since that first try. I have run six half-marathons since then. I have proved that I can do so much more than I ever expected. And yet, just being able to ride my bike up the hill that beat me years ago gives me a sense of victory.
So I have been thinking about that the last couple of days. There are tons of things that I could look at as “little victories.” I got out of bed this morning – that’s a little victory for my tired self today. I ate fruit and veggies instead of cookies and cake at a get-together with my friends over the weekend. I didn’t (completely) freak out when a wasp landed on me during my walk yesterday. I have managed to stay on top of my laundry for three months now. (That one might be a more than a “little” victory.)
I think we need to give ourselves a bigger pat on the back for the little victories in our days, instead of waiting for the big victories that don’t come nearly as often. When the kids clean the bathroom and it is almost “mom-clean,” that’s a little victory – they are getting there! When we leave the house in 90 degree weather to take a walk instead of staying on our couch in the nice cool AC, that’s a little victory! When we manage to get our quiet time with the Lord in at least one day in this crazy week, that’s a little victory!
When we celebrate these little victories, we are more likely to have more of them because we like how that feels.
So, what little victories will you celebrate today?