Lesson From The Treadmill

It's a cause-an-effect relationship.

Due to the cause (eating whatEVER I've felt like for the last three months), there is an undesirable effect (you're not stupid-you can infer).

So, I headed back to the gym this month after some serious procrastination.  (January meant the gym would be full of all the New Year's Resolution folks, and February is was just too cold to get out of the house unless it was completely necessary.  I sat around this month for ten days trying to figure out how I could procrastinate, and couldn't think of anything-then it snowed the next day.  Thanks a lot, March.)

To help get my muscles warm, I always start off by walking on a treadmill.  It's not much, but it helps get me ready before I move on to an elliptical.  The longer I walk, the faster the speed gets until I'm almost running.  The other night, I was almost jogging and thought to myself, "Wow, this feels good.  I haven't run in forever.  Maybe I should keep running."

Then the other side of me kicked in, "Don't do it.  You burn more calories on the elliptical.  It's easier on your joints.  You haven't been on an elliptical in forever."

I had an internal battle for 90 seconds until I hopped off the treadmill and discovered all the ellipticals were taken.  Thinking it would be no big deal, I went and lifted weights, certain once I was finished one of the machines would be available.  No such luck.

So I did what my mind had been telling me-got back on the treadmill and started running.  Only this time, it was much more difficult.  And I wished I had just stayed on earlier.

This incident reminds me of 1 Thessalonians 5: 19, "Do not suppress the Spirit."   When you feel like God is calling you to do something, do it then and don't put it off.  If I had done that, it would have been much easier to keep running.  I'd already found my pace, so it was just a matter of distance from that point .  Also, while the other choice was the more logical one, it turned out not to be the right choice for me at that time.  And last, when I did choose to obey, it was much harder to complete my task.

To make a short story long, when you hear God speaking to you, do it-whether it's running on the treadmill or speaking to your neighbor, just plain do it.