Lessons From Lunges

Audio By Carbonatix

Lately, I’ve been doing something that I haven’t done in a long time. You know the first time you go and do an exercise that you used to do and wake up the next day with some extremely sore muscles? I’ve been doing leg lunges, and that is exactly what I’ve been feeling. You know, the exercise where you walk and dip down really low as you’re going? I’m telling you, if you haven’t done those in a while, it may surprise you how tough they are!

Go do 30 of them today. First of all, you probably won’t be able to do that many right off the bat! Maybe start with 10 of them, and see how you feel. I can tell you that they definitely wore me out. But over time, that short-term pain will bring long-term gain if I push through it. If I keep it up, I’ll be healthier and in better shape. And by working to stay in shape, I have the chance to continue doing lots of things with my family.

I’m in my 60s now and know that as I age, if I’m not intentional about staying physically active, there are things that I won’t be able to keep doing. I will be limited in what kinds of activities I can participate in with my grandkids. Obviously, not everybody has the same physical capabilities to start with, but we can all stay as active as possible and keep the maximum amount of options available to us as we age.

Now that I’ve got you thinking about growth, I want to apply this same principle to the way that we approach our entire lives. As easy as it is to stop doing some physical disciplines, it’s also easy to drop some disciplines that are even more impactful on relationships. Especially in our current national climate, it’s easy to become people who are less forgiving, more reactionary, more angry, slower to say we’re sorry, and a whole range of other things. In addition to trying some lunges, I want to encourage you to do something even harder. I want you to try being kinder, gentler, and more loving, even if the people around you aren’t behaving that way.

Just like physical exercise allows me to continue to have options available to me as I age, avoiding hostile and divisive conversations allows me to have options available when it comes to relationships. I’m able to avoid conversations that might result in fractures and focus on the things that I share in common with the people I’m talking to. If you’ve seen some damage in your marriage or family as a result of these hot-button issues, it’s not too late! You can start making some changes today, and I believe you’ll see the long-term result of winning more often at home.