Vince Lombardi famously said, "The man on top of the mountain didn't fall there." Now, you don't have to read this entry to know what he meant by that. But of the many takeaways, one is that if you've reached the summit, you worked for it. You put in the miles, the time. Three cheers. You weren't given this view.

Now, Lord knows I'm nobody to argue with Vince Lombardi; arguably the greatest football coach of all time. I realize I'm on hollowed ground. But, the quote is a little - how do I put it - off.
Right? 

You'll forgive my simplicity, but if God made the man, and God made the mountain, and God gave man the grace to have the desire to use the ability of putting one foot in front of the other to get up said mountain...at what stage on the mountain does God not deserve all the credit? But that's not my focus today.

My focus isn't the credit Vince failed to give away, but it's the glory he wanted us to keep.

Max Lucado once wrote, "God let's you excel so you can make Him known. Kings of the mountain forget Who carried them up there." Now, I'm not waging Max against Vince (after all, winning isn't everything), but what I am saying is that our success, whether physical or otherwise, is intended to reflect God. And to bring it home to this little corner of the fitness world, it's God who gives us the ability to be healthy. But if you're like me, you find it pretty easy to plead for God to help you accomplish a goal, but rather than let others hear God's thunder, you try and steal it. Cover your ears my fellow mountain climbers, but we were absolutely given this view.

Thing is, we don't disagree with the great Vince Lombardi; about the work needed to climb the mountain, we just try to remind ourselves where the glory goes, even as we wipe the sweat off our brow. It takes a lot of work, even when you're carried.

- Jimmy Peña

Deep Breath: I saw a news story recently about people dying on the way back down Everest. See, once climbers reach the summit, they can't spend too much time celebrating because they waste their oxygen and energy. There's a thought. Our industry will tell us that we weren't dropped atop our peak, so spend as much time as we need to bask in the glory. We're "worth it." Hogwash. Makes me wonder how much precious energy we waste trying to gain attention for every hard-fought byproduct of grace. Speaking for myself, more than I care to recall.