Redefining a Healthy Body {Guest Post}
Some of the hardest work I had to do during my recovery last year was mental. My mind needed to adjust to my new reality. New limits required a new perspective.
There were days when the best I could do was make my own coffee and walk to the mailbox. On those days, I learned to worship God and serve him with the smallest bits of energy I had. Those were days of training. Not training for a marathon. I'll tell you straight up, this body will never run a marathon. No, those days were training for days when I would have more energy, more health. I learned to steward my body for kingdom work. No matter how broken, my body will always be good enough for the work God has prepared for me.
Can you relate? Is your body less than you'd like it to be? Do you need a new perspective?
Today, I have the privilege of sharing how God gave me a new perspective on my healthy body at (in)courage.
The body God gave me is weak and clumsy. Poor hearing causes poor balance proven by the scar on my right knee from when I tripped over first base in junior high PE. Yes, I was that kid. The wheezing sound coming from my lungs was a concern for my high school PE teacher. She feared I’d stop breathing at some point during The Mile run which is why she jogged with me the whole way. The only success I had in high school PE was holding my breath underwater the longest. Although, I have always wondered if the other girls just didn’t try.No matter how much time I spend on a treadmill or in a lap pool I remain the weakest person in every group. It is disheartening and no fun to be the weakest. Often, it leads me to question, does my weakness mean I am unhealthy?
Last year, I collapsed at a park when my body failed me in a new way. The blood vessels in my lungs burst. It took multiple surgeries to save my life. I spent months gaining back enough strength to take a shower by myself and walk to the mailbox. I was weak but alive. Grateful for the breath in my lungs, I began wrestling with new versions of those questions: How do I steward a broken body and how should I define “healthy.”
What if a healthy body isn’t defined by run times or ideal weights? What if a healthy body is instead defined by how well it reflects God’s glory and how it goes about completing the tasks God prepared for it?
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