Choose!

John Eldredge’s book, Resilient, starts with “everyone has an Achilles heel”, or an area of weakness or vulnerability.  Thoughts?  What is YOUR Achille’s heel?

Eldredge raises up an example of a camel in the desert.

Camels have an Achilles’ heel. But their vulnerability is hidden by their legendary resilience: these famous “ships of the desert” have been crossing dune seas since before the time of Abraham.

The stamina and strength of camels is truly impressive — they can carry heavy loads across leagues of burning desert sand, going without water for weeks while their human companions die of thirst. But the treacherous thing about camels is that they will walk a thousand miles with seemingly endless endurance, giving you little indication they are about to collapse. Then it just happens. 

A little vulnerable confession – I resonate with the camel!  It captures my current emotional state.  I am constantly marshalling my energy and motivation, fighting to continue against the desire to collapse.  Fighting against the pull of gravity, like the rotating penny in a hyperbolic penny funnel.  Fighting, like the Wicked Witch in the play Wicked, to Defy Gravity! 

I rely on the wisdom of Viktor Frankl in Man’s Search for Meaning, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” 

For me, during times of personal trial, fighting the desire to collapse, I picture Frankl enduring the hell of Auschwitz and choose. 

My question for you:  what is YOUR Achilles’s Heel?  What are your tricks to overcome?