Why I Train for Life #WorkoutandWorship
“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
— 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)
When I lived in New York I joined the studio called Mile High Run Club in the city! I ran my booty off! Literally! I was averaging 60 to 80 miles a week, and I enjoyed every single minute of it. Lol. For the first time, I wasn’t thinking about running for the next step or the outcome.
I remember during our first outdoor run class session at 7:00 A.M., at the crack of dawn, we all stood in a circle in the scorching Manhattan heat, stretching. And whether it was our first day or our 15th go round — they asked each of us what we were training for.
I stood nervous because I simply was not training for anything! I thought that maybe I signed up for the wrong class, or I should’ve put my name down for the London run like the other members, or everyone there was simply a marathon runner! 😭😭
Soon I realized that whether the other runners present were there for the latter — there was something that someone said, that I immediately took from and repeated the same!
“Hi! I’m Uju, and I’m training for LIFE.”
I thought it was the coolest thing I’ve heard in my life. Wow! What a concept. I was so stuck in the mentality, as most of us are, that we have to be training with a immediate goal in mind. Either we want to get to certain weight, or to look a certain way by a significant date, or to get down to certain size, or we’re trying to fulfill an expectation of a body image that is simply not ours!
Training for life got me excited, because I wasn’t just thinking about my now and my current goals, and clearly I was no longer thinking about training for a sports as much as I was prior, when I was a full-time athlete!
Now, I train for my current: I train from my past injuries, and current injuries, the possible implications that are hereditary! I train for my future children, I train for my future spouse, I train to set an example! I train to motivate and instill in myself and those around me! I train for LIFE because this is the Life God gave me, and I choose to Honor it.
I train because our agenda is a direct reflection of what we value in life. I value so much more than my aesthetic. I value the impact that my health and physical fitness has had since I made it a top priority.
I’m never remiss when I get the comments and questions about my fitness activity, usually due to implicit gender bias 🙃🙄 (you tinkkk I don’t know. 😭), but I do hope that each of us take a second... if not a minute... if not a DAY, but isolated time to truly discover your WHY in this Life, and give it ALL you have.
The worst workout is the one you don’t do, and you only get one chance at this thing called: life. I’m damn sure that I will do everything that I can to make sure that THIS is the life that I want.
For me, that requires excelling at anything that’s within my power to continue to lead the example that I would like to see, establish the ethic for my future family, and demonstrate the unyielding effort that was instilled in me.
Goals or no goal — I’m training for life. 👟