Inner Strength

The background:

Jordan plays on one of the top high school basketball teams in the province.  He practices five days a week and works out for six.

The story:

For some reason there is a gene on my mom's side of the family that gives my mom and I freakishly strong arms.  Until now, Jordan my six foot two, broad-shouldered teenage son has not been able to beat his grandma, yes his grandma of sixty plus years in an arm wrestle. . . until now.

 The night finally came that he was able to take down his little ol' grandma.  It was such a sweet victory.  I wasn't able to catch his victory dance on film but you can see the pride oozing out of his face.   My mom was a good sport and went down gracefully.

 A Little Lesson

The outer strength of this grandma is probably something to write home about, but it doesn't hold a candle to what inner muscles she's been building over the years.  She is a rock star example to me.  I think each of us has some proverbial barbells that we are here to lift while we are on this earth. For some of us it's patience, for others it's kindness, or saying sorry, or letting things go, or admitting we're wrong, or thinking of others first, or forgiving ourselves, or finding order, and so on and so on.  Whatever it is we usually know deep down inside it's not something that comes easily or naturally to us, so when we exercise these particular muscles we get significantly stronger on the inside.  In other words it's bodybuilding for the soul.