I'm Not Even a Little Bit Athletic
It’s time for another confession. This one will likely be even less surprising than the last. But, nonetheless, I need to get it off my chest, so here goes: I’m not even a little bit athletic.
Shocker, I know.
In some ways this IS rather surprising. You see my dad was the exact opposite. He never met a sport or physical challenge he couldn’t master. I inherited precisely zero of those genes. My mom on the other hand, well let’s just say this apple didn’t fall far from that tree.
Armed with only my mother’s genetic material in the athletics department, I made my way through my first couple decades carefully avoiding organized physical activities. Now I wasn’t a complete failure because I’ve always been pretty flexible, consequently I was the Madison Elementary Trunk Flexion Champion of 1982 AND 1983. (I need to put that on my resume…)
As I got older I knew that, despite my natural indisposition for athletic pursuits, a sedentary life wouldn’t serve me well long term. I had to infuse regular physical activity into my routine for my own good, so in college I tried to go to the campus gym regularly. Doing this was a bit terrifying but I stayed away from doing anything that drew any attention to me. The recumbent bike strategically located in an out of the way corner was the perfect spot for me. As an added bonus the likelihood that I’d fall off was fairly low. Seriously, I’m really bad at this stuff.
Thus began 28 years of attempting to maintain a consistent exercise regimen. I’m about as good at that as I am at doing athletic things, so needless to say my record has been a bit up and down. I’d get on a great streak but something would come along to derail me and I might go months or even years without my heart rate climbing above 100 bpm.
Through the years there have been exercise options that appealed to me more than others. Once upon a time, I had a weightlifting partner I loved but she moved back to Canada so that fell to the wayside. The 5:30 am group exercise classes at the Y became my jam when my youngest was a baby but when my kids started school the schedule no longer worked into our morning routine. Then last November I tried a new class at our Y's evolved studio. It had been a hot minute since I'd done more than power walk and I'm not kidding I thought I might actually die.
We cycled, we swung kettle bells, we participated in types of torture I can't adequately describe. Perhaps the worst part were the treadmills. They aren't actually treadmills because they are powered fully by the person walking or running on them, but they look enough like treadmills to me. I'm terrified of treadmills. I got on one, trembling with both fear and exhaustion, and was instructed to shuffle sideways on the blasted thing. I did attempt to do this but quickly realized my lack of coordination and physical stamina weren't going to cut it. So I humbly stepped off the and shuffled across the gym floor. Not my finest hour.
After 60 minutes of class, I stumbled to the car and called my husband because I wanted to tell him one last time that I loved him. Fortunately the end was not as near as I believed in that moment and I lived to see another day. In fact, I lived to see another workout. I kept going and grew to love it. Now I can even shuffle sideways on the runner! (If I don't call it a treadmill it doesn't scare me as much.) And as a bonus, a friend of mine likes to work out there, too.
I had been doing 2-3 of these workouts a week when a friend casually mentioned that a relative had recently completed a 100 day exercise challenge during which she did some form of exercise every day for 100 days. Now the idea of that was intriguing. Could I possibly make that happen? I had exercised that morning so I decided to call that Day 1 and see where it took me.
I'm happy to say that as I write this I just finished Day 28. I don't get 60 minutes in every day, but I've completed at least 30 minutes of exercise for 28 days in a row and don't plan to stop. I've decided to make it a non-negotiable in my life. I was inspired by an article I read to stop asking myself IF I'm going to work out on any given day but rather, WHEN am I going to work out. It's totally changed my perspective and honestly it's easier than fretting over getting in enough exercise each week.
This perspective shift has impacted other areas of my life as well. I knew I couldn't prioritize my physical health over my spiritual health so I decided this "non-negotiable" approach needed to apply to the disciplines of daily Bible study and prayer, too.
Game. Changer.
Much like with exercise, I KNOW I need these things in my life but so often it's a challenge to squeeze it all in. Now, however, I don't look at studying the Bible and spending time in prayer as something to squeeze in my day. I look at them as necessities to my day. And, truly, they are. When I'm daily in the Word and daily talking to God my mind is renewed and my spirit is transformed.
As excited as I am to see my not-even-a-little-bit-athletic self tackling my fitness goals, I'm even more excited about how God is using His Word and His Spirit to transform me from the inside out. For the sake of those God places in my path, I pray the spiritual change is more noticeable than any physical one you might see.
#confessionsofanotsolaidbackmom
Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.
- 1 Timothy 4:8, NLT
