"Free Time"

School's out for summer. The crushing schedule of reading and paper writing is, for a time, over. I can take a break as it were and just enjoy being a wife, a mother and grandmother, a pastor and a person in need of some focused self care. So in that vein I have begun a plan of regular exercise and healthy eating. This is saying alot since I am a person who lives on anything quick, easy and wrapped in cellophane during times of great deadline stress. But there is much more to this type of living than what one eats or how one engages in physical exercise. It is an opportunity to slow down.

One of the reasons that fast food is so popular in our society is that it is as it says, fast. Rush in and rush out, no prep, no time, instant gratification. It feeds the cycle of disconnect we promote with ourselves and others. Tasks become our Master and their accomplishment is the order of the day. But, the art of healthy eating defies all that. Healthy eating requires time, thought, planning, preparation and intentional consumption. Experts say that one of the reasons for overeating is the lack of focus on what we are putting in our mouths on a daily basis. Healthy eating changes that. For instance, it requires us to plan out our meals, to make lists and to take time to prepare our food. This allows us the opportunity to fully engage with our food. I know that sounds odd, but to engage with anything is to become aware of it's presence and purpose in life. Food is meant to nourish us, to sustain life, to meet our dietary requirements, and to afford us all we need to maintain health.

So too engaging with life causes us to focus on people, places, and ourselves to become aware of the presence and purpose of life. This is what I struggle with most. To become fully present, engaged with the people, places and even with myself at any given time in life. I am always on to the next thought, next task, problem, or solution. By living in this way I am not really living at all, I am simply existing.

The preparation of healthy food and the practice of exercise helps me to be and to stay engaged with the present moment. With the assembly of ingredients one at a time, to produce a meal or with the isolation of muscles, the rate of my heart and breathing to maintain an optimal range for health each moment requires my full attention.

These lessons can now be applied to other areas of my life. My relationships with others, my listening skills, my relationship with God and with all creation. Every moment a sacred gift not wasted but lived, breathed, experienced and fully engaged. May this be the rhythm of my life.