Good Energy from the Lady at the Gym

I was working the other day at the Student Life Center here at Baylor. The guy I was training had just finished up a set of pull-ups and an older lady approached us to offer some words of wisdom:

“I just wanted to encourage you two boys. What you’re doing is so important. It’s just as spiritual as it is physical. I’ll be sending good energy to you two during my meditation time today.”

Obviously, my initial reaction was to just sort of chuckle and move on. However, I’ve spent some good time thinking about what she had to say. Despite my laughter, I completely agree with her. We’re all, whether we realize it or not, interested in figuring how it is that we live a good life, how we feel alive. Work, unfortunately, has become the law of the land in terms of finding something that is worthwhile and makes you feel alive. It seems very lopsided when that’s all we focus on; when that’s the only place we hang our hat.

Jim Wilkinson, the EVP of Communications at PepsiCo, told our class that to be successful he’s got to win at work and at home. His rules for day to day are to 1) get a good night’s sleep 2) eat 3 good meals a day and 3) get a workout in everyday. Again, someone espousing a different definition of what it means to have a good day to experience life.

It seems that life is inextricably tied to the way we treat our bodies, the things that happen outside of just our work life. The state of our body affects everything we do. It affects the way we walk into worship, it affects the way we walk into work, how we sit at meetings, how we talk to our friends, coworkers, family members, and strangers.

I’ve spent a great deal of my time in the MBA program lamenting the fact that I don’t have time to workout or train for marathons like I once did. I, obviously, can’t go back and redo the last three semesters. However, looking forward it kind of dawned on me after talking with the lady at the SLC that exercise is important, our bodies are important; they affect everything. We are wise to diligently and consistently care for our bodies while we go about working, playing, living, and experiencing all the world has to offer.