Taking the plunge - Day 2

I skipped a couple of days - just not enough time - but yesterday took the plunge again. The water was colder!!!! Andrew was swimming laps at the same time and urged me in as I stood, wavering on the edge, my mind back and forth, "Should I dive now...no, not yet. Now, oh, I don't know. It's gonna be cold. Yes, no, yes, no."

"Just jump in," he coaxed, "you'll warm up quickly."

5-4-3-2-1.....SPLASH!!!

"Oh, my goodness, it's cold!!" Stroke, stroke, kick, kick, no breath all the way to the edge, turn quickly, swim hard. And finally, after a couple of laps, the breathing evens out and the rhythm slows and the blood is pumping and the body warmer and I glide, back and forth, back and forth, the length of the short pool, having to stop and turn way too soon, but it's better than not swimming. I love very long pools where you swim forever before having to turn. But this will do. Very nicely.

I added a minute to my swim time. Just a little more each time as I build up slowly. In addition to the swim, I'm doing my crunches and yesterday added a teensy bit of lifting with the weights. The boys in the garage playing ping-pong remarked with surprise, "Are you going to bench press!?"

Well, I don't know if you call lifting 10 pounds bench pressing. Do not laugh, younger male readers with big muscles. It's a small start and mainly to give me weight bearing exercise to keep middle-aged bones from becoming brittle. And I have to start small and go slowly so that I can keep going for the long haul.

I am thankful for the encouragement my husband and sons give me to exercise. I know this body is aging. "Outwardly wasting away," wrote the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 4:16). But as long as I have breath, I am called with all believers to "glorify God in my body." (1 Corinthians 6:19). Surely this means not just avoiding the negatives (sexual immorality and harmful excess in eating and drinking) but also making the positives, exercise and healthy eating, a part of my daily routine.

For far too long, I have been on again/off again in both eating and exercising. I am striving for more consistency in this area - and in others. How about you?