Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11 (KJV)
When I went to the doctor before Christmas and told her of my reactions to the blood pressure medicines, she said that there was only one thing for me to do. Lose weight. I expected her to say forty pounds which has been my seemingly impossible weight loss goal for years. But she said ten pounds would make a difference. Ten pounds? I can lose ten pounds I thought. Then, she gave me a deadline of eight weeks. I finagled with the receptionist on dates to make it nine weeks until my next appointment. With Christmas in the mix, it turned out to be fifty-four days from January 1. I did some study and made a plan to reach my goal without going on a strict diet which usually only lasts a few days and without expecting myself to become an instant athlete. Making better choices about carbohydrates and sugar and exercising thirty minutes a day seemed sensible and attainable. I knew running was out of the question. I have tried that several times and it is too painful for me. Youngest son tried to coach me, but he says my feet and legs don’t go the right way. I kind of drag myself along with a short stride. A little like a chimpanzee. I can’t imagine why people love to run. Walking takes too much time, and I hate going to the gym. Too public. Cycling seemed the best fit for me. After all, I can exercise while sitting down! So, I talked husband into fixing my bicycle, and on January 1, started riding. In thirty minutes, if I go at a steady pace with only a couple of times to coast and catch my breath, I can make it all the way around the island. I force myself to go as soon as I get home from work before feeding horses or dogs or cooking supper. If I get straight out of the car and onto the bike, I think in time, it will become a habit. I hope. Though I thought that exercising sitting down would be easy, my rear end needs to build up some calluses! The key is going to be consistency. I fear the first time I skip, it will be all over! So, even though it is frigid out there, I go. Well, I should say, I have gone six times now. Not quite long enough to make it a habit. Why is it so easy to create a bad habit, but so hard to build a good one? There’s another habit I need to start, and it can also be done sitting down, yet I haven’t yet developed it consistently. Finding time in every busy day to study my Bible and spend time in prayer is just as hard as making myself get on that bike. The principles are the same though. Ignoring distractions, making it a priority and being consistent. And it’s much better for me than even losing ten pounds!
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