There are two topics that my husband has been trying to convince me. One I discussed in my ebook “A Quiet Time, Worth the Time.” The second involves exercise.
Before I go on, let me put things in perspective.
There is not a person who has ever or will ever combine my name with words like athlete, marathon, or Olympic hopeful. To put it in perspective, some of our very close friends have tried several times to get video of me running. They think it would be an overnight YouTube success.
Yes, it is that bad.
With that said, exercise is not high on my to-do list. I don’t have a burning need to push my body physically like my husband does. Nor do I have a desire to have a stellar body. For me it is not worth the time. As one girl in our Facebook group said, “I lack motivation.”
And this is where my husband and I had to agree to disagree. He thinks exercise would be helpful to me. Not because he wants me to wear a certain size of jeans but because he believes it would benefit the emotional me. For me, exercise would be one more thing on my daily list that would cut into other things that have to be done. In thinking this through, I was convinced that adding exercise would take time away from my children, my husband, or my shut-eye time.
While meeting with my mentor, God reminded me of a simple point. I can’t take care of those around me if I don’t take care of myself.
So after much fighting internally with what my husband had been telling me, I realized that I must take care of Mommy. And for me this means exercising.
In the perfect world, I would get up early to exercise and prepare for the day. Well, I am already getting up at 5:00 and getting up thirty minutes earlier isn’t something that I feel would be best right now. So, I prayed for another time to open. Yes, it took some adjusting but I made it happen. And the best thing is that it didn’t take time away from anyone or anything. Actually it is the 30 minutes that my husband spends putting our kids to bed.
Let me tell you a secret.
I am seeing great benefit. First and foremost, I see that my attitude and mood is focused toward the positive. Less anger and irritability. This is a win-win for everyone! Second, I am feeling better inside and out. Third, since I exercise on the treadmill, I now have time to read or have evening focused prayer time in my Prayer Journal. And of course, there is the health benefit.
My hatred for exercise has turned into a love-hate relationship.
Once again, my husband was correct. He saw something in my life that was needed and I failed to believe him.
How about you? Is your husband convinced of something? Do you need to give it a try?
