By Charm Dogma
My body and I have a love-hate relationship. I’ve been overweight for most of my life, though I once enjoyed traveling, running, mountain climbing, martial arts, and badminton. Over time, a sedentary lifestyle and age caught up with me — I developed asthma, gained more weight, and hurt my knee.
Last September, I bought a stationary bike and began following spin classes, even walking around the village. But when I became a caregiver for a hospitalized relative, my asthma worsened, and I stopped exercising. Anxiety about my health set in, yet I knew I needed to move again to strengthen my lungs.
Today, I finally got back on the bike for a 20-minute ride — and it wasn’t as hard as I feared. It felt like a small but hopeful step toward healing.
In 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, St. Paul reminds us, “𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑦 𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐺𝑜𝑑?… 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦.”. Physical health is not a matter of vanity, but of gratitude and stewardship. Our body is a sacred “temporary gift” from God.
Our strength comes from the Lord, and in caring for our bodies, we honor the Creator who lovingly formed them. Even if we constantly fail to continuously care for ourselves, may we be reminded to get up, try again, and start with another “Day 1”.
#GOTO #GodOfTheOrdinary #WFALoveConnects
