Day 20 (Spirit over Flesh)

Day 20

“No pain, no gain!” Right?... Sometimes but not always.

The saying comes hand in hand with the “overload” principle we’ve discussed. The more you push, the more it hurts, the more you tear your muscles and push your body, and the more you increase in muscle size, strength, speed, etc. Too much pain when exercising is a sign that you’re pushing too hard and may have seriously hurt yourself. Still more, the idea that pain will produce a good result is just plain ridiculous.

This is the first time where physical health and spiritual health, in a way, opposed each other. This weekend, I went skeet and trap shooting, fishing, and motorcycle riding with my dad. Spiritually, it was a time of fun, reflection, and bonding between father and son. I believe God looked upon us and was pleased. Unfortunately, just because I may have held a shotgun or fishing pole for a while, doesn’t mean it made me for physically healthy. I can definitely say that the pain I felt after shooting a hundred rounds doesn’t make me physically stronger. The fact is, after 2 days, my shoulder is still tender, my head is slightly sunburned and I don’t think my shoulder is any stronger nor my head any tougher.

I guess the point is that, sometimes, we can do things that may actually hinder our physical health in order to strengthen our spiritual health. While I think the day’s activities weren’t actually harmful to my health, rather slightly painful, I would always say that Spiritual Health should take precedence over Physical Health. Normally, we can have both, but if it comes down to it, the spirit is always to have control over the flesh! 

Day 19 (but who's counting?)

Day 19

I suppose it doesn’t need to be said, especially if you were following this series through lent, but I haven’t blogged in a long while. Like so many of us, I found that I had priorities that took precedence over this journal. I suppose I could’ve just given you the same thing again, but I believe that everything I put up here should be original in some form or facet.

So today I exercised a little more than the norm. Sure, I walk to work and back a couple times a day, and that’s about a mile in total, but today I did a little more… I rode my bicycle. It’s funny how we have to exercise sometimes, whether we choose to or not. Today, I had the choice to either wait until my wife came home and ask why I didn’t pay the rent on time, and I could explain that the car wouldn’t start, or I could ride my bike the 2 miles to drop off my check at the realtor’s home office. So I pumped up the tires and rode my bike. I think it’s the first time I’ve ridden it since last March when I moved here! I just never ride it unless the distance is big enough that jogging isn’t more time effective.

Now I know that 2 miles isn’t very far on a bike ride, but when you haven’t ridden in over a year and you're trying to keep up with 30-40 mph traffic, it’s a little bit of a workout. Of course, I didn’t have a warm-up or cool-down, which could’ve helped. So when I got off the bike, I had to take a good 5-minute sit-down and chug some water. It was one of those sprints that push you to the point at which any more exertion would result in puking. (I would have used a different word, but all I was thinking was, “I gotta sit down before I puke!”)

Anyway, I’m still glad I did it! I’m glad to have gotten a little exercise, toned my legs, if only slightly, and have finally put that bicycle to use! I encourage you to do the same!