Physical Activity

“Tomorrow morning will be the morning I go for a jog,” I though as I went to sleep. I woke up at 7:00, and the characteristically bright northern summer sun was not beaming through my window. Then I heard the steady beat of rain; “Tomorrow,” I thought as I rolled over.

What makes it so easy to put off physical activity? For me, it’s the fact that I can usually find something ‘more important’ to do instead—That sermon’s not going to write itself. And computer nerds have an added set of excuses—That blog’s not going to redesign itself.

I’m a sedentary person by nature; there’s nothing I enjoy more than flopping down on the couch with a good book. But when I think back on the times in my life when I was really physically fit it was because I had a physical goal. In Montana I jogged to I could climb taller mountains; in Australia it was because I wanted to climb Uluru without passing out in the heat. (I never did make it to Uluru, but the training came in handy when I hiked up to that Wok bowl tower in Hong Kong.

So what I need is a fitness goal to motivate me, and I think camp meeting should do. Last year, playing sports with the kids got me in shape by the end of week, but this year I’m going to be physical animal when I arrive. If the prospect of being the soccer hero on a team of 12 year olds doesn’t motivate me, I don’t know what will.