Make the things you need to do serve more than just their own check box.

I love to exercise. But I'll be honest... I haven't in while.

I think we can all agree that exercise comes under that category of "Definitely something I should be doing." But if I love to exercise, what's my deal? Why do I have times where it's a regular part of my life and at other times it is way too much of a drag to even think about. Relate?

I asked the Lord about it:

"God, if I love exercise and I know I need it... then why do I not want to do it?"

(I have to be honest here that while I am a HUGE believer in talking to God about everything, in this moment there was a part of me that thought this wasn't a topic worth asking Him about. And yet, the conversation that followed has totally changed my outlook on all my "to-dos" in life!)

"You don't love your body."

Umm.... what? I didn't expect that sentence to pop into my head.

I mean, I love my body! It's done so much for me. I've played sports, danced, felt sand between my toes, held the ones I love and birthed children! I am SO grateful for each and every part...

But what is love? A feeling? A gratitude for something?

We know it is so much more.

Love is tied to action. It's interwoven with response.

We don't just feel our love and gratitude towards people and keep at a distance. We move towards them and serve them because of it.

So while I feel love for my body, my love for it must move beyond that to what I do for it and how I serve it. When I'm not serving my body, I'm not truly loving it.

Now, here's where things can go wrong.

When we have an unhealthy perspective of exercise (or anything else, really) we can become slaves to lies and mindsets that do NOT serve any part of us. Before we know it, we've created a "have-to" and a picture in our mind of something tedious. Shame and a sense of impending failure comes... At least, that is what's happened in me many a time.

But this morning was different.

"How can exercise serve more than just its check box?"

I felt the shift. In my mind, exercise had become just another thing to squeeze into my full schedule. It looked a lot like an inconvenience. It looked a lot like a hassle. BUT what I was now feeling... was an invitation into joy, peace and life abundant.

Another question egged me on: When have you loved exercise before?

- When I would go for long walks with my dog as a teenager.

- When I was in team sports.

- When I was doing a fitness program with my friends.

Hmm, could exercise serve me beyond just checking the "move thy body" box?

I began to imagine how it could incorporate other things that I've been needing in my life... friendship, community, a time to think and pray, a time to walk my dog and...time away from my kids!

As I transitioned from prayer into the rest of my morning, I suddenly realized that exercise didn't feel like a requirement anymore. Rather, it felt like an invitation and opportunity to find joy and enhance my life!

I love a good mindset shift.

So fast forward to today... I'm not looking up workouts or cramming it into my schedule. Instead, I'm jotting down things that I really want to do and connecting with the people I want to do them with. For the first time in awhile...I'm actually excited about exercise!

Are you stuck in a rut, either with exercise or any other 'life necessity'? How can you embrace it in a way that serves the other areas of your life and bring you JOY?

Make those "to do's" serve more than just their check box.