If I take care of my spiritual life, my spiritual soul will be healthy in Heaven eternally…
I was thinking that I should be doing some more exercise these days. There is only one problem with that idea. And the problem is this… I literally have no more time to allocate in my entire day. If I am not working, I am looking after my home. If I am not doing these things, there are my children. If all of that is arranged, there is always my husband who needs my time. And if all of that is taken care of – and my family and friends – then there must be something given in prayer (which should really be at the top of my list anyway).
And so, I was thinking about this idea of exercise and trying to work out where to fit it in. And what I have concluded is that there is literally no place for it in my life and if this s something that I wish to include in my life, then I am going to have to start preparing myself for it in a different way and with a different approach.
And so, what I decided is that the only way exercise could work for me would be to wake up half an hour earlier than I already do each day and jam it into the very first part of my day (straight after my morning prayers).
Now, at first this seemed like an impossible feat. After all, I am already a very early riser and the idea of getting up even slightly earlier was just overwhelming. But nevertheless, I thought I would give it a go. But this would mean that there would be changes. It would still be stretching things to have to make sure that everything still gets done in my day – even with the early morning.
And so, I must use my time well. I must sequence the events of my morning and my morning routine around this exercise and make sure that some things are done while preparing for it and others done afterwards. And this means that all the success of this initiative is in the preparation. If I do not choose to get out of bed when my alarm rings, I will fail. If I do not follow the scheduled pattern of my morning to get everything done (before and after the exercise) I will fail, and if I am not prepared I will also fail. After all, there is no point waking up early and then not being able to find my shoes for some running and wasting time looking for them.
And today I have come to realise that this is EXACTLY like my spiritual life. Just as I had to literally MAKE time for exercise – by waking up earlier and making more effort, so too must I make time in my spiritual life. Just as I need to be routine and disciplined and diligent in how I approach my exercise, so too do I need to adopt the same characteristics and attitude with my spiritual life.
And just as I need to prioritise the exercise and make the choice to commit to it, so too must I do this in my spiritual life. After all, if I exercise my earthly body will be healthy until I am one hundred years old. But if I take care of my spiritual life, my spiritual soul will be healthy in Heaven eternally…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.