 There's "rocket science" and then there's not. Getting yourself out the door for some fresh air and exercise falls far from the category of actual "rocket science," so let's stop thinking they're one in the same. Seriously! A little look within and we remember the great benefits of seeing the sky, hearing the birds and feeling the breeze. I'm already more alive just for writing the last sentence. It's good to take in the bigger picture and remember that "in Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28 We literally have our being from Him and a great part of that is to experience everything else that He also spoke into being. It's like hitting the reset button or regaining our lost default settings and it's super worth the effort!  We can all crack our personal code of what it takes to make our fitness happen. Each day has its own factors, each year and each phase in life. Looking into the next day ask yourself, "what can I do to get out and exercise tomorrow?" Can I craft a budget that will allow for it? Can I arrange a handful of details so nothing gets dropped and more is accomplished? I think these 5 tips will help make it easier. 1. Always try to set up a Time, Person and Place Sometimes you can be your own person, in your own good time, in any place. For those times when the motivation isn't there, it only makes sense to invite someone else into the mix. Maybe it's asking your husband to come home :30 minutes early to kick you out the door with your girlfriend for a :45 min. fun run or have two friends over for a circuit strength workout in your basement or backyard while the kids play and you fellowship. We can even take the kids with us using the amazing tow and push apparatuses we all should own. 2. Set Your Things Out Lay out all the necessary accouterments so you have them to help lure you into your goal. Staring at a pile of running clothes and shoes all day will speak to you at the level of your intention. Don't go for "out of sight out of mind." Another best practice is to put them on and wear them until it happens. You can only take them off once they stink from activity. Act ready to get sweaty! 3. Do a Familiar Routine or Route If you really need to knock the effort down to make it happen, choose an all familiar route or group of exercises so you can better accomplish the task in your very budgeted timeframe. No one will fault you if it's where you've run before or that it's the same Tabata High Intensity Intervals that you did in your back yard last week. The point is that you are going to make it happen because it's measured and specific. 4. Reward Yourself With Something Wait...this needs a little qualifying. I definitely didn't mean food! You can use this technique to bait yourself into action. Tell yourself you're gong to do Core on the Floor for :15 minutes solid before that shower making sure your sweaty and ready to clean up. Tell yourself to postpone on something you WANT to do to make room for something you NEED to do. Yes, I can get a movie for family movie night, but it'll be an extra :30 minutes cause I'm gonna ride my bike to and from the Red Box.  5. Be Grateful
Did you really think I was going to forget the last one? Actually, I just wanted to separate it from the others for a dramatic pause. We really need to be grateful for what our bodies can do. We need to hold onto the feeling of accomplishment, dignity and re-creation which happens during exercise to help motivate ourselves again and again. Not everyone can enjoy exercise and to the same extent. It is a necessary good as we seek to help our mind search for and communicate Truth. Would that we were attracting others because we exhibit discipline and character surrounding our exercise habits. Rejoice that you have bodily freedom and seek more abundance in health by getting out regularly. Turn your fitness into witness if even only to your spouse and kids.
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 Seems complicated that something such as love could be simple. Yesterday, was a shinning example of just how simple love can be. We've been married over 16 years and I used to think we had the simple thing down, I mean, he would just bring me a single red rose on each St. Valentine's Day. As is my style, I'm calling that day by it's formal title! That was plenty simple, cheap, scheduled, predictable, accurate... blah. We're older and wiser now and know that spontaneity is where it's at! So, as I was dishing the steel cut oats our for the kids and just before they hit our adult bowls, my dear husband declares, "Mom and I are stepping out on a little date." We reserve movies for occasions such as these so our children think they get some extra special treat too. Works every time! Actually, we've waited a long time to have a responsible 14 year old, 14 years of waiting precisely. Now, he gets time as the head of household which I am sure will be good practice for later in life. He was in charge and we were going out to breakfast. Only a few minutes tick by until we are ready to go, but wait, we don't have a washer and dryer and the laundry bin has seen 10 days worth of action. I guess we were going on a multitasking date. Works for us!  Into town to sort the clothes, change the money, pour the detergent and $15 dollars later we were out of there. We were off to the coffee shop to share a 20 oz. latte, scone, cherry crisp and egg bake something or other. These dates never last long enough because the coffee runs dry and the washer's spin cycle inevitably ends, though it was completely worth the uninterrupted 25 min. of our adult lives. Back at the laundromat we change the laundry over to the dryers and smile as we read about a local couple on the front page of the paper who's celebrating 69 years. They claim they always took their kids camping, that, "she danced real nice" and that they've had an easy marriage. I grin with my husband and say, "sounds like us." And, I just want to say that he has gotten really good at folding laundry. I used to be able to tell garment by garment whose hands it went through. I am so impressed what a few years in the marriage study program can do! We pile it all into the car neatly and press the pedal for home. If we could eek a "romantic" time out of the local laundromat, we believe anything will continue to be possible in our married love. Thank you Father God for your gaze upon us, that we may see great worth in each other, by your grace, at every moment. 
 Greetings! It's been too long since I posted a thought or a prayer here. How is it that our time drains out like water through a sieve? This last year has been a curveball of sorts, the experience full and varied -April 21st saw the unexpected passing of our 5th child born at 33 weeks with a heart defect. It was very difficult news that he was too small for any surgical options, but it only helped reveal God's will to us in that he was just the right size for heaven. -May had us packing up and moving into our fifth wheel camper for six and a half months of travel to discern where in the West our family could start a full time agrarian ministry to other families. -September was a stepping stone to beginning daily homeschool for our three oldest children. While we strive to give them a good education, we really want them to have an excellent formation. Job not complete...give us your light of life Jesus. -October we found out that I was carrying out precious 6th child while spending time at Tiny Texas Houses to learn to build entirely from salvage using architectural antiques. What joy! To know I am having my easiest pregnancy yet is such a grace during this time in life. -January was one to remember with both my husband and I packing our first moving truck at 35 years old to move a two days drive from all we've ever known to the great state of Montana. I got to drive a personal vehicle, but God Bless the driver of that stinky truck. He solved the problem eventually!  Along this life journey, which is exciting and yet muddled by my own fleshly expectations, I am ever surprised at the consolation of The Holy Spirit. This last two weeks alone we have met a family with whom we are already intimately united, having prayed over the years to meet someone to fellowship with who could also be a model and guide for our own family life. Believe me, they gracefully manage an entire homestead and the 7 children they had in 8 years, while homeschooling and aiming all efforts toward heaven. I just drop my jaw in amazement having at times thought I had it figured out. Right my pride, right!  -I am also deep into producing my first online course to teach Catholic women how to live life to its fullest, leveraging health and holiness on the way to heaven. I am excited to help impart skills and knowledge for wholeness of health in the key pillars of: *Spirituality *Fitness *Nutrition *Environment Stay tuned here for more great details coming soon and some video and content giveaways. You can follow me elsewhere too: Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Rebecca-Dussault-56088047941/ https://www.facebook.com/massstartme/ Instagram: dussaultskis Twitter: dussaultskis Together we'll turn workout into worship and fitness into witness. Before I sign off, I pray that those who honestly desire rest at the end of this week, can curl up with your family, prepare a cozy warmth of surroundings and take ample time to beg for grace and mercy. May this evening rejuvenate your purpose and your peace for its "in Him we live, and move and have our being." Acts 17:28  |
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