Don't Lose Your Balance!

A little over an hour ago (at about 7:00), I came indoors from brisk 2-mile walk with my brother. What a beautiful morning we have today! There is something special about mornings. The atmosphere is totally different from the rest of the day. It's not only the light and temperature, but other things, too...

...Such as the dew, beading on the grass blades like bubbles in a pot of boiling water - only this water is cool instead of hot.
...Or the robin sitting on the border of my flowerbed, preening his tail and trying out his morning voice with a force that makes his little red chest swell.
...And the certain orange glow from a sun that is just waking up.
... Or the refreshing breeze that puffs at our faces now and then.
...Or the welcomed break from the heat of the day, which arrives at about 8:30am.
...Or the strange quiet that hangs over our neighborhood. No one is outside, and the houses are still and silent.

I love to be outdoors in the morning. I don't necessarily like prying my eyelids open in the morning, but once I'm up I'm glad I did so. (I still need to work more on getting to bed earlier!)

And walking is another thing I enjoy. Combining walking and being outside in the morning makes a wonderful start for my day.

I have found that walking really helps my mindset for the rest of the day. At the end of the day, it's a wonderful way to relax my mind, and let stress out. I think it has something to do with the delicate connection between body, mind, and spirit.

I think more girls would do well to pay closer attention to that delicate connection. It influences so much of what we do. We have lives to live for the Lord - we can't afford to be out of commission because our spirits are droopy, or because our emotional status is teetering between two drastic and opposite reactions.

A girl can't feed herself junk, exert her body only occasionally, and expect to be in top mental, spiritual, and emotional condition. Things just don't work that way. When one of your three "areas" is neglected, the other two areas will show the effects.

The fact that you are made up of three parts - body, mind, and soul - is part of the way that humans are made in God's image. God is a trinity and, in a small way, we reflect that. ...But all three Persons of the Godhead are perfect. We aren't. We can have bad days - days when we don't feel so good, or days when our attitude stinks.

Throughout history, many civilizations have chosen to focus on just one area of the human being, neglecting a healthy balance - and having some pretty serious results. Greek culture exulted the human body to the point of worship. Some Asian cultures have focused so much on the spiritual part of man that they begin to destroy their bodies.

Western culture has chosen to emphasize the mind. Education. Knowledge. Business. These things aren't bad - they just shouldn't be the only things we think about. We also have a spiritual relationship with our God to think about (which affects every area of our life), and we each happen to have a body that we have no choice but to live in.

I understand that sometimes God calls people to suffer physically for His sake. The apostle Paul did. And many Christians today face health issues and trials through which they are able to magnify the name of the Lord. But there are a lot of average Christian people who aren't doing everything they could be doing for God simply because they spend too much time feeling sluggish, or their mind is consumed by stress. I see many women who want to be good homemakers, and lovers of their children and husbands, who are greatly hampered by simple things like fatigue and stress. This hadn't ought to be!

I'm not even a wife and mother, and I often have problems with my attitude and work because I have spent too much time just sitting down reading or sewing, and my body is sluggish and my mind is zapped.

So let's strive to find a healthy balance in our lives, so that we are able to live up to our full potentials as servants of the most high God.

What do you do to keep yourself healthy and bright-minded? Will you share it with us? Please leave a comment!