“Do What You Can with What You Have”

I’m closing in on my first year with group fitness classes, which is a milestone for me. As a former runner, with wear and tear and aging, I had to learn to make my peace with walking and strength training, and about a year ago, I started going to group fitness classes and I am very pleased with the new arrangement.

I got talking with one of the trainers, and I mentioned that I was hoping to run a marathon when I was younger, and with my knees and a couple of other body parts as they are, a marathon will never happen for me. “But you are here,” she said. “Do what you can with what you have!” and she is right. I am trying to do that, at the gym and in just about every other area of life.

I lose track of how many times I give people the same advice when facing their own life challenges. Yes, each of us must live within the limits that fall on us, but within those limits is a call for each of us to live as fully as we can.

I know that it is a far cry from what happens at the gym to the challenges so many face. I respect that what I do on a rowing machine or weight bench is far removed from what many in our community and larger world must face. Yet within those limits, each of us is called to do what we can.

Rabbi Dennis Ross