Divine Gymtervention

My mother always says God is "no respecter of person" - like, He'll bless the man on the street asking for change as quickly as He'll bless the rich man in the mansion. Today, I learned God is no respecter or place. 

I found Him at the gym. 

A little over a week ago, I got a membership to the Rec Center a mile from my work. I had the grand idea of going during my lunch break so I would get some exercise in, without taking time away from my family. Note, I said "a little over a week ago." Well, it was like 2 weeks ago. Today was my 1st day of my "gym" lunch break.

My previous idea of a lunch break consisted of eating at my desk while I pored over the hundreds of emails in my inbox. That is, when I remembered to pack (and take!) my lunch to work. Otherwise I'd just grab a candy bar on the run. This was part of my "No more Groundhog Day Diet" plan. It got a kind of late start. But it started.Today. Somewhat reluctantly.

I was at work today and was pretty much caught up on what I had to do. I kind of sat at my desk and wondered what to do. (note to my boss: this rarely happens. It like, never happens.) My gym bag was in my car (where it's been for a little over a week) and I thought "I should really go to the gym." 

I didn't wanna. 

I was blah.

Blah happens a lot to me. It's when I'm in my blah state of mind that I start to let things slip...like my food tracking, and my exercising, and my will to make myself a better version of me. So I kind of said a little prayer to help me get un-blah. Because I know that I really do want to be a better me on most days.

I got up and announced I was going to the gym for lunch (cuz I thought this was a form of accountability I needed.) The response from my Front Office Manager (bless her heart - love her) was "Is this the 1st gym lunch you're taking?" cuz she remembered my grandiose announcement of said membership and intentions to go daily on lunch breaks.

I mumbled yes and went out the door. Now I had to go. 

Got to the gym, and my new membership card scanned in spite of the blah hand holding it kind of blah-ly. 

Went into the locker room, got dressed, and forced my way past the sign announcing the weight loss of their Biggest Loser contestants. WHATever. I was blah-er than I thought. I really just wanted to leave. I probably had at least 15 new emails to sift through...

"Lord, let me just get through 20 minutes, please" was my prayer. 

Walked into the cardio room and was immediately drawn to the elliptical-looking machine called "Octane." Got on it, fussed with the controls a bit, and started to move. Sluggishly and without enthusiasm.

A few things happened kind of all at once. 

I thought "I really just wanna get through 15 minutes Lord" and then I thought of how badly I want to look good in my Disney pictures and then I looked at the machine in front of me and told it "I'm just not that into you" and then...

And then God turned on the music. 

OK, naysayers, go ahead and say it wasn't God. But at that moment, I heard a song that only He could have orchestrated to come on at the exact moment I was starting to do something I didn't wanna do, when I was praying for strength and conviction of spirit. A song that immediately killed the "blah" and inspired me to just do it. 

The theme song from Rocky. 

Really? I laughed out loud, and my pace quickened and I grabbed the arm things that had been moving without my arms on them and I mouthed the few words to the song

Trying hard now, it's so hard now, trying hard now..
Getting strong now, wont be long now, getting strong now..
Gonna fly now, flying high now, gonna fly, fly, fly

Oh, yeah, and I did 30 minutes and man, did I sweat.

I find it amusing that God has not only the time to care for little ole "blah" me on my lunch hour, but that He does so with a divine sense of humor. The timing was impeccable. If I hadn't dawdled, I would have missed it. It was meant just for me.

God knows the desires of our hearts. And the desire of my heart is to be a healthier me. To honor the body He gave me - a whole body (albeit an overweight one- which is my bad.) In Malibu, I learned to respect this body which had healed itself from many injuries and was able to literally climb mountains. Yup, it was time I showed myself some respect, and did what I didn't wanna do to get where I wanna be.


I fall, but I get up. Every time. Cuz the alternative is staying down, and that's not acceptable to me. I am trying every day and know I will find the strength just when I need it. So it's still on, and I'm in! When I was done with my workout, the machine displayed the words "Congratulations, you've been fueled by Octane." Actually, today, I was fueled by God, and the faith that will get me through the rest of my journey.


Oh, by the way...the song He played for my cool down? 

"Respect"