On Accepting Invitations, One Step at a Time (including a cute dog picture)

Periodically in my life, I've been awesome at exercising. I would walk every day, or run every day, or go to the gym two or three times each week. This has generally lasted between a few weeks and a few months before the habit falls apart - but I've always been able to get back into it after a while.

Then came 2015.

2015 is the first year I've ever met my health insurance deductible. And that was all by the middle of April. My newly re-started running career hit a wrinkle in January when I got the shingles. (Yes, I'm 30. Yes, that seems to young to get shingles. Yes, I got it anyway.) And that was just the beginning of this screwy year for my body.

So... now I'm not really walking. Or running. Or going to the gym. Or, in general, moving more than I absolutely have to.

Every day, my husband Erik takes our dog, Henry, for a short walk. For the sake of cuteness, here's a picture of Henry:

While I was running every day, or walking every day, I'd usually decline to go with them on these walks. You know, I already got my exercise in for the day - usually much farther and more intense than a dog walk. Checked that box; now's the time to sit and relax.

So every day Erik would ask, "Do you want to come with us?" and I would say no.

And then when I had shingles, and all the other screwy stuff, well, no, I didn't want to go. For some of that time, I could barely walk.

"Do you want to come with us?" "No."

Well, I'm feeling better now. Feeling like I should be exercising again. Only now, it's overwhelming. How did I ever find time to do that before? I can't figure it out.

It recently occurred to me that the simple thing to do is not to decide, all of a sudden, to start running 2 miles a day every day again. Maybe that's something I'll get to in the future.

The simple thing is to take the small invitation that's offered to me every day by a great husband and a cute dog: "Do you want to come with us?"

Simplicity starts where we are. It's not about jumping into something overwhelming, all at once, to totally fix our lives or to be somebody else. It's about being who we are and taking one small step, every day, to be more and more the person that God has called and created us to be. One step at a time, build a habit - or let go of a habit - that lets you be the whole person God has made you to be.

And I think part of simplicity is seeing the easy opportunities that call to us every day - and to not just keep rejecting them out of hand as I was doing. Little by little, step by step, saying "yes" to those opportunities.

"Do you want to come with us?" Okay. Let's give it a try, one step at a time.