My Top 5…What Inspires Me To Be Fit! #4

The other day I was talking to someone about health and fitness and in a jokingly, yet in an excuse-giving way, they said, "Well, in the end, we all die from something."  My reply was, "It's not the dieing I'm worried about, it's the living!"  This brings me to my number four inspiration, the idea of LIVING FULLY.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on seven different medications when I'm older.  I don't want to be so out of shape that I can't keep up with my kids or enjoy time with my husband.  I want to be able to go on hikes up really tall mountains, because I've seen the view from up top (and it's worth the trip!).  I want to be able to swim and walk and jog and play without completely loosing my breath.  I want to...

One of my favorite people was a man named Benny Phillips.  He has passed away now, but he was my sister-in-law's father.  What I remember most about Mr. Benny was that he always knew the best fishing spots, and he always told me to never stop doing.  He would say "when you stop doing, you stop living, and when you stop living, you start dieing."  What wisdom!  Mr. Benny lived a long and active life to the age of 89.

Now, I know that you can do everything in your power to live a healthy, fit life and still end up with a terrible disease or illness.  I know this can happens...but what if it doesn't?  You could die tomorrow, or you could live to be 100!  Only God knows the number of our days. So here is my personal challenge for living fully...approach relationships as if I'm going to die tomorrow and my health and fitness as if I'm going to live to be 100.  Do I do this perfectly all the time?  No.  I'm human after all.  But it's a goal I'm consistently striving and praying for (with God's help).

To be perfectly honest the physical part comes way more easily for me than the relationships part does.  Sometimes it's hard to ask for forgiveness, to say "I love you," to give a heartfelt "thank you."  I hate crying, but when I start speaking from the heart, tears usually follow.  God is helping me with this, because I don't want to avoid saying or doing what needs to be said or done at the risk of a few tears.  Relationships require more strength, energy, and self control then doing P90X and Insanity combined!  But they are so worth it!  And they are the other key component for living fully.  Because, let's face it, we could be fit enough to climb that mountain, but having someone there to share it with makes it all the sweeter.

So get out there...Be Healthy, Be Happy, Build Muscles, Build Relationships, and LIVE FULLY!