5 Ways to Boost Your Spiritual Endurance

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

Do you find yourself being overly short tempered?

Do you easily give up on pursuits and projects you once considered important?

Do you feel discouraged by everyday living?

It’s quite possible that your spiritual endurance is low. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We all have periods in our lives when we feel like we cannot endure. If you’re in the middle of pursuing a demanding career, raising a family, or managing difficulties in close relationships, you know how tempting it can be to just throw in the towel.

But deep down, you know that giving up will not bring relief. You know that if you want the breakthrough you crave in your life, that you must find the strength to keep going even when you feel like giving up.

If you’ve ever talked to a long distance runner, you may have heard about “the wall.” It’s that point in the race when the body just quits. Legs and lungs burn, the brain screams “Stop.” The urge to quit is almost impossible to override. Yet, many distance runners learn to push through the wall. Once they do, they have a renewed drive to see the race to completion.

It is not uncommon for a distance runner to tell you that when they completed that first marathon, they felt like they could do anything. Pushing the body to its limit becomes a powerful metaphor for enduring painful circumstances in order to experience personal growth and deep meaning.

So how do they do it? How can you do it?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Slow down

Probably the most cruel aspect about the wall is that it happens near the end of the race, about mile 18-20 of 26.2. The feeling of coming so far only to be confronted by the wall, is probably the most demoralizing feeling you can have. The few miles left in the race feel like an impossible chasm to cross.

Admittedly, I’ve not run a marathon myself, though it’s on my bucket list. My wife has, though, and when I asked her about the wall, she said, “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life besides having kids.” When the wall hit she said, “I slowed way down and focused on one step at a time rather than how much distance I had left to cover.”

When you hit the wall of life, you pretty much have no choice but to slow down. Approaching this period with great intention can make all the difference. When I lost my job a few months ago, I was suddenly forced to slow down. With a much freer schedule, I could spend time reflecting on my life and what I truly wanted to do for work moving forward. It allowed me to find work that brings much meaning and enjoyment in my life.

2. Set small, reachable goals

Another helpful tool my wife used to help her complete her marathon was to set very small, reachable goals.

For instance she would set little goals like, “I’ll make it to the next telephone pole” or “I’ll run till I reach the black car parked on the street.” Each time the object is reached, a new goal is set.

You could also apply this principle to your personal life. You can set goals such as, “I’ll get through the next hour without losing my temper” or “I’ll write 100 words in the next 30 minutes.” Every time you reach a goal, set a new one. If you fall short, try making it even smaller.

3. Visualize

On days when I’ve gone running and wanted to stop, I would visualize a cable attached to my chest and to a winch on the other end, cranking me forward.

If you’re procrastinating on doing something hard, visualize yourself doing that thing in a state of flow. See yourself being in the zone and focused, with everything coming easily to you.

4. Feed your brain the right stories

Any runner would tell you that diet plays a huge role in their success or failure. Just like preloading with high quality carbs can help prepare the body to prevent or overcome the wall, feeding your mind with the right stories or “brain food” can make all the difference in your endurance.

To discover the default and unconscious stories you tell yourself, grab a pen and paper and just write down the first thoughts that come to mind.

You may find yourself writing things like, “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t have what it takes” or “I’m too tired to go on.” Challenge your default thinking by finding evidence contrary to your beliefs. What situations have you been able to endure in the past? By whose standards are you not good enough? Is it possible to adjust those standards?

Once you’ve challenged your thinking, tell yourself the very opposite thing to your default thinking, even if you don’t believe it. Think “I can” instead of “I can’t” at every turn.

5. Pray or ask for help

Though running may feel like a solitary sport, runners will tell you that having a running partner helps them keep going. They may also pray or meditate while they run to stay focused and keep their minds off the pain. They may even take in the beauty of their surroundings.

These are all things you can do if you feel like giving up. Try taking the focus off yourself. Look around you. What’s going well? Who are blessings in your life? Who can you call or take out to dinner? Have you whispered a prayer today?

Challenge the belief that you’re out of options. It’s almost never true.

Keep going

I get what it feels like to be at the end of your rope.

But you don’t have to give up on yourself. If you’re feeling down and out, if you’re feeling like you’ve run into a brick wall, know that you’re that much closer to a breakthrough.

The rewards in life go to the few who have the stamina and endurance to go just a little further.

You can easily be one of them. So get up, dust yourself off, and keep going.