Being Fit: It's a Body of Work - Practical Stewardship

This wasn’t formed in a day.

A healthy body is a body of work.

Have you ever been in a cave and seen a stalactite? Or a stalagmite? If not, maybe you’ve seen a valley carved out by a (relatively) slow-moving glacier. These things are formed over time. Ages, in most cases. The difference is not discernible from one day to the next, but it’s there…however small it may be.

Fitness is no different. A healthy body is a body of work, the product of thousands of decisions of varying significance. Sometimes it’s having three scoops of ice cream instead of four. Other times, it’s skipping a dessert altogether. (Still other times, it’s _feasting_ and having five scoops instead of three!) Sometimes it’s doing one more lap around the block because you are feeling really fresh and strong. Other times it’s getting to bed a bit earlier because your body really needs the rest.

None of these examples will help you trim five pounds by the weekend, but they may help you to be a bit slimmer before the next major holiday family gathering. And you’ll feel better physically and mentally along the way having done good things for your body.

So when you’re tempted to skip a workout because you’re just not feeling up to it, remember that you’re creating a body of work. A fitness portfolio. A resume. It’s okay to skip now and again if your schedule or health prevent your workouts; it’s not okay to make this the norm.

Then one day in the near future, you’ll wake up and guess what? If you’re a guy, perhaps your shoulders will be a bit broader and those love handles will be smaller. If you’re a gal, those hips will be a bit narrower. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.

Being fit ain’t rocket science, but it is a body of work.

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