Setting Limits

You never really know what you're capable of until you're put in a particular situation.  But on the opposite side of the equation, how do you know what you're not capable of?

I was confronted with this thought on more than one occasion this past week.  I try to run five days a week, but when temperatures are still in the triple digits at 7 p.m. I realized I couldn't run my usual distance and speed.  I made a conscious decision to scale back.  I don't know exactly what it would take to dehydrate me, and my children don't need their mother passed out on the side of the road from heat stroke.  So how do I know what I'm capable of?

I've come up with a theory.  This is profound, I'm sure.  I hope you're ready for it.

When a situation falls upon me that is completely out of my control, I have no choice but to keep going.  In the depths of a crisis, I still have to get up every day and push through the problems as they come.  Sure, those are the days that I say, "Lord Jesus, come quickly."  But, I don't stop to think about how I'm going to make it through, I just do.  I rely on the support of others, and God's promises that better days are coming.  Looking back after some of these situations, I can say, "Wow, how did I get through that?"  It's simple.  I didn't get through it - I was carried through it. 

On the other hand, when I voluntarily put too much on myself, that's when I falter.  Actually, the word falter is too kind.  The more correct verb should be flounder, or break down, or crash.  It's those times when I'm going and doing so much, that I don't realize how much I'm pushing myself.  I am invincible!  Then something takes me down.  A headache (for someone who never gets them) sends me to bed early.  An illness takes me out of a whole day of work, forcing me to rest.  My thirteen year-old daughter waves a board game in front of me and tells me I need to take a break and relax.  These are the times I need to reflect on what needs to be cut, and work to make those changes.  I wish I could see the warning signs.  If only I could figure out I'm not invincible sooner!