What comes to mind when you think of “physical fitness?”
Is it lifting weights, running, swimming, bike riding, or playing sports?
The reality is there are endless ways to achieve physical fitness. One definition states that physical fitness is “one’s ability to execute daily activities with optimal performance, endurance, and strength with the management of disease, fatigue, and stress and reduced sedentary behavior.”
As a kid, sports (particularly basketball) were a big part of my everyday life. However, the realization that my skill had run its course sunk in, and I was able to find a new passion. Lifting weights! I immediately fell in love and enjoyed the challenge of pushing my body to the max while also seeing results.
While the physical component was obviously there, the social aspect also came with it. I met new friends while working out, with whom I still connect to this day.
My love and passion for lifting weights became a big part of my daily life, but as any parent will tell you, things changed once kids came into the fold (as they did for me).
The endless amounts of time I once had for working out became very slim as kids added a whole new element that I was not prepared for, and I needed to adapt.
Although not ideal in my eyes at the time, doing a thirty-minute workout was still better than doing no workout at all. Adapting to the season of life we are in is key to moving forward and achieving our physical fitness goals.
As I have gotten older, I’ve also come to realize how important it is to stay connected with people. While physical activities offer tremendous physical health benefits, they can also provide amazing results for our mental health. All of us are social creatures by nature, and the desire to connect with others should be at the forefront of our minds. Golf, basketball, ultimate frisbee, and floor hockey are just a few examples that have provided me with that much-needed social element. So, if you’re like me and see the importance of social interaction, get involved with organized sports!
Adapting to the season of life we are in is key to moving forward and achieving our physical fitness goals.
Now, although physical fitness offers many positive benefits, if we are not careful, it can do the opposite and bring negatives as well.
Most obviously, we can become obsessed with our physical health. I’ve always been a firm believer in moderation and self-control. Once I started seeing and hearing the results I gained through weightlifting, I became obsessed and soon displayed characteristics of body dysmorphia.
A basketball coach once told me, “It is so easy to focus on the negative and gloss over the positive”; in my case, this was very apparent. I would spend so much time putting myself down and thinking I wasn’t “good/big enough” that my mental health started to waver. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “‘I am allowed to do anything,’—but not everything is good for you. And even though ’I am allowed to do anything,’ I must not become a slave to anything.”
When we think of characters in the Bible such as David and Joseph, for example, both men were strong and good-looking. Both would be looked at with high regard based on their outward appearance. However, the Lord cares more about our hearts than outward appearances. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature for the Lord does not see as man sees; man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.” Let us continue to enjoy all that physical fitness offers while allowing God to be our guide and true love.
About
