I’m a goal oriented person; focused. Most things I attain are a result of planning, follow through, and God’s grace. However, as of late, it seems, there have been a few new additions to my life that I’ve stumbled upon completely by happenstance and they are both related to physical activity.
Recently, I was invited to attend a bootcamp. I’ll spare you the gory details but it was your average hour of grueling, sweaty self punishment, commanded by a drill sergeant-like leader. The latter I’m exaggerating on completely; he was as cushy as a boot camp leader comes and to boot was easy on the eyes. There I said it; but I digress…
One thing, he said, stood out for me and has been on my mind these past few days and I think it is a great metaphor for life:
“Engage your core”.
Aside from being code for go easy on the doughnuts, he explained being aware of your core muscles; namely your abdominal ones and keeping them actively engaged, or flexed in your exercise regime as an integral part of your workout. Our tendency in exercise, be it walking, running, or swimming, is to rely on our stronger back muscles to get us through our physical activity and the damage leads to poor posture, back problems, and beer bellies. Our core is often neglected and its no coincidence we neglect it in other areas aside from physical activity. We push it aside, we put it on the back burner, we assume its on auto-pilot and I'm not talking stomach muscles here.
The greatest "take-home" message offered to us over 2000 years ago by Jesus was this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart. First and foremost. Everything following this, including our big screen tvs and timeshares in Mexico, are secondary. They are not bad things, just not on the top of the priority list in God's books. So, what does that look like in real life terms, especially when we can't physically see him or touch him? Engage your core. Keep it active. Pray. Talk to him. Be mindful of it; this relationship with him, on a daily basis. Don't assume its on autopilot. Don't rely on other, more readily available muscles to carry you through your life workout. You wind up walking sideways, or worse, flat on your back immobilized. It can feel daunting getting started, but as with exercise, it gets easier, and you will begin to see results.
A good challenge Christy...one I struggle with...so much to do...so much to take care of...making time to engage my spiritual core is often the last "to do" on my list. But I thank you for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteI needed the reminder too. Thanks so much. Life's business seems to take over day after day. Talking to God seems to often be an afterthought. I needed the reminder to engage his presence and ask for it through out my busy day, inbetween errands, while I'm working and while I'm resting. I need to put my busyness, my stress, my worries and my anxieties onto him so that I can let him love me more fully and know that he will comfort me, that all my needs will be met.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, I'm not sure how you keep pumping these blogs out. I feel you are an amazing and creative writer who is truley encouraging. I am thankful for you my friend.