A few days ago, I came across a post that stopped me for a minute.
I’m not going to share the post itself, because what stayed with me wasn’t necessarily the exact words. It was where they took my mind.
It was essentially about how much of what we see online isn’t actually real life. How easily we get pulled into outrage, comparison, arguments, fear, and everybody else’s opinions.
And how sometimes the answer is incredibly simple:
Log off.
Go outside.
Talk to real people.
Help somebody.
Pray.
Get closer to God.
And I thought…
YES.
Because I keep coming full circle to this idea that we have choices every single day about what kind of human being we are going to be.
Not someday.
Not when circumstances get better.
Not when everybody around us starts behaving the way we think they should.
TODAY.
And this week has been such a perfect example of that for me.
Last Saturday, I ran a marathon.
Wednesday, I ran 10 miles.
My legs were HEAVY. 😂
Nothing hurt. Nothing felt wrong. My body was simply reminding me, “Ma’am, we literally just ran 26.2 miles.”
Then yesterday, I ran another 5.
And my body felt GOOD.
Still recovering? Absolutely.
But honestly, my recovery has been pretty incredible—and I think part of that is because I’m actually allowing recovery to be recovery.
I’m fueling.
I’m resting.
I’m moving.
I’m listening to my body.
I’m accepting support at home.
And then apparently my body had one more request. 😂
After the first full week of school, I slept for 10.5 HOURS last night.
Ten and a half.
And I woke up this morning feeling REFRESHED.
Rested body.
Fresh energy.
Quieter mind.
And instead of immediately reaching for the noise of the world, I got to start my morning with meditation and prayer—with one of my twins beside me.
And THAT felt important.
Because peace isn’t just something I find when I’m alone.
It’s something we can create inside our homes.
It’s feeling supported.
It’s slowing down.
It’s letting our kids see us pray.
It’s teaching them that being still matters just as much as being productive.
It’s showing them that taking care of ourselves allows us to show up better for the people we love.
And maybe one of the biggest changes in me has been realizing that I don’t have to do everything myself.
There is strength in discipline.
There is strength in showing up.
But there is also strength in resting, receiving support, and allowing the people who love you to show up for you.
Ten and a half hours of sleep.
A quiet morning.
Support at home.
Meditation and prayer with one of my babies.
It wasn’t just rest.
It felt like alignment.
Body.
Mind.
Home.
Faith.
And yesterday brought another piece of this together for me, too.
I sat with people from all over the world in a spiritual meeting, and somehow we ended up talking about trees and dreams.
And I remember thinking how incredibly COOL that was.
Different places.
Different lives.
Different experiences.
Different perspectives.
And yet here we were—connected by this desire to grow.
To be still.
To listen.
To learn.
To become better humans.
There is something incredibly hopeful about that.
Because the internet can absolutely connect us through anger.
But it can also connect us through GROWTH.
Through recovery.
Through faith.
Through curiosity.
Through conversations we may never have had otherwise.
Through people we may never have met otherwise.
And we get to choose which version we participate in.
THIS is also a choice.
And maybe that’s part of what I’ve been learning spiritually, too.
Growth doesn’t happen in one giant moment.
Neither does healing.
Neither does peace.
Neither does becoming the person God is calling you to be.
It happens through tiny choices made over and over and over again.
Running has taught me that better than almost anything.
People will say:
“I could never run a marathon.”
“I’m not a runner.”
“I could never do what you do.”
But I didn’t wake up one morning able to run 26.2 miles.
I started somewhere.
One mile.
Then another.
I trained.
I practiced.
I showed up on days I felt great and days my legs felt like bricks.
I learned how to fuel.
I learned how to recover.
I learned when to push and, maybe more importantly, when NOT to push.
Thousands of tiny choices eventually became a marathon.
And I think life works exactly the same way.
Sometimes we say “I don’t” so many times that eventually we start believing it means “I can’t.”
But what if you tried?
Not the entire marathon today.
Just the next mile.
Not fixing your entire life today.
Just making one better choice.
CHOOSE YOUR HARD.
Discipline is hard.
Living without discipline is hard.
Getting sober is hard.
Addiction is hard.
Setting boundaries is hard.
Living without them is hard.
Forgiveness is hard.
Resentment is hard.
Growing spiritually is hard.
Staying stuck is hard.
Doing the next right thing can be hard.
Living with ourselves when we continually choose not to is hard, too.
We don’t always get to choose whether something is hard.
But so often, we DO get to choose which hard we’re willing to carry.
And I’ve learned that discipline isn’t punishment.
DISCIPLINE CREATES FREEDOM.
The more choices I make that align with the person I want to be, the less power the outside world seems to have over me.
And that brings me right back to the post that started all of this.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO PARTICIPATE.
You don’t have to attend every argument you’re invited to.
You don’t have to hate somebody because you disagree with them.
You don’t have to become outraged because everyone else is outraged.
And you certainly don’t have to wish harm on another human being because they see the world differently than you do.
We have somehow created this culture where disagreement can immediately turn into dehumanization.
But we have a choice there, too.
I can disagree with you and still recognize your humanity.
I can believe something deeply without needing to destroy someone who believes differently.
I can decide something isn’t for me and simply walk away.
I can pray.
I can pause.
I can ask myself:
What is the next right action for ME?
Because I’m responsible for my side of the street.
And THAT is where I think peace begins.
For a long time, I thought peace would arrive when everything around me finally settled down.
When people acted the way I wanted.
When relationships felt secure.
When circumstances changed.
When I had enough.
When everyone understood me.
When life stopped being hard.
But that’s not peace.
That’s trying to control the conditions.
And control is exhausting.
THE WORLD DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PEACEFUL FOR ME TO HAVE PEACE.
Peace is something different.
Peace is being able to stand in a world that can be loud, divided, messy, and sometimes downright heartbreaking and still ask:
God, what would You have me do next?
Not:
How do I make everyone else change?
Not:
How do I win this argument?
Not:
How do I make them understand me?
Just:
WHAT IS MY NEXT RIGHT ACTION?
Maybe it’s speaking.
Maybe it’s staying quiet.
Maybe it’s apologizing.
Maybe it’s setting a boundary.
Maybe it’s helping somebody.
Maybe it’s running five miles.
Maybe it’s sleeping for 10.5 hours.
Maybe it’s accepting support at home.
Maybe it’s sitting quietly with your child and praying.
Maybe it’s sitting with people from around the world talking about trees and dreams and God and realizing how connected we actually are.
Maybe it’s simply choosing not to add more hate to a world that already has enough of it.
That’s where I want my energy to go.
Because at the end of the day, I can’t control the whole world.
I can control what I feed.
I can control what gets my attention.
I can control what I contribute.
I can keep working on my body, my recovery, my sobriety, my relationships, my faith, my home, and my own spiritual growth.
One choice at a time.
One run.
One prayer.
One meeting.
One boundary.
One conversation.
One surrendered thought.
One act of kindness.
One decision not to react.
One really good night of sleep. 😂
One next right action.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until eventually those tiny choices build something.
Maybe they build a marathoner.
Maybe they build recovery.
Maybe they rebuild faith.
Maybe they build a peaceful home.
Maybe they build character.
Maybe they simply build a human being who leaves the world a little better than she found it.
And maybe that’s enough.
We are all capable of more than we think.
We can all try.
We can all make a different choice today.
We can choose what we feed.
We can choose what gets our energy.
We can choose what gets access to our peace.
And when I don’t know what to choose?
I can get quiet.
I can turn it over.
I can ask God to direct me toward the next right thing.
And then I can take one step.
Because that’s really all a marathon is anyway.
One foot in front of the other.
And maybe life isn’t all that different.
Choose your hard.
Choose your heart.
Choose discipline.
Accept support.
Protect your peace.
Love people anyway.
Take the next right action.
And keep going.
God is indeed good. 🤍🙏🏼
melodiealexander 