Past My Prime

I'm out of shape.

This morning I went to a nearby park and shot baskets for a while. I played basketball all the time when I was in high school and college, but since I moved to Cincinnati last year, it's an activity that I have sadly neglected, mainly because I haven't had anywhere to play. In fact, this morning was the first time I've even taken a shot in six months or so, and the results were...saddening. I quickly realized that athletic ability has a way of deteriorating if it goes unused, and I had very little such ability to begin with. I was very thankful that there weren't too many other people at the park to witness my airballs and tears.

As I continued to chase my basketball around the court off of long rebounds, I thought about how doing well in something like shooting a basketball requires consistent effort and dedication. My problem isn't just that I've lost my shooting touch, but that I haven't done much of anything physical for ages. Today was the first time I had moved faster than a brisk walk in a long time. After just five minutes, the muscles in the legs ached, my knees were stiff, and my back, neck, and shoulder all hurt. I haven't felt so physically weak since I had knee surgery several years ago.

In college, I tried to stay pretty active. I played all of the intramural sports, I played pick-up basketball when I got a chance. Even a good game of ping-pong could be physically exerting. (I know that sounds ridiculous, but you haven't seen some of my ping-pong games.) Since then, however, I don't do these things. Instead, I lay around on my couch with my computer and TV.

Being in good shape physically takes effort and training, and today I realized that I need to give more attention to this part of my life. After all, I'll never get a date as long as I have the physique of Gumby. I also thought about how this same principle is true in other areas of life as well. Physical well-being requires upkeep, but so do other things. For example, it takes effort to remain mentally sharp. If you never challenge your mind, it atrophies just like a muscle does. Relationships are the same way. A healthy relational life requires work just like anything else.

The same is even true of your spirituality. A healthy, vibrant relationship with God doesn't just happen. Just like any relationship, it requires your involvement. A robust spirituality comes from spiritual training. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 says, "Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." In several other places, the apostle Paul compares the Christian life to an athlete competing in the games or running a race. If athletic ability deteriorates by inactivity, so too does spiritual health.

I think that these four areas of life--physical, mental, relational, and spiritual health--are especially important for a person's health as a whole. What is interesting to me is that when one of these four is neglected and begins to atrophy, the others easily follow suit. I haven't lost my physical strength because I've been so busy nurturing my mind. My mental agility has also waned. So too have my relationships, and, if I'm to be honest, my spirituality. When you lose discipline in one of these areas, it's easy to abandon the others as well, and instead of growing, challenging yourself, and remaining disciplined, you find yourself sprawled out on your couch with White Cheddar Cheez-Its crumbs on your chest, rewatching the same old YouTube videos and commenting on every profile picture of the hot girl that sits in front of you in class.

By the time I got this far through this thought process while I was shooting baskets, I was really starting to "feel the burn," as they say. The day was growing hotter and my muscles had just about had enough. It was at that time that I started thinking about how to reverse the lazy, apathetic trend that has developed in my life in each of these four areas. I started thinking about how purposeful training is needed physically, mentally, relationally, and spiritually.

A successful athlete has a training regimen. He gives attention every day to growing stronger, faster, and more skillful. We need this physically. But we need something similar in these other areas of life as well. My encouragement to you would that, every day, you make it a habit to do something that will enrich your life in each of those four areas--physically, mentally, relationally, and spiritually. I want to do the same. And I'm still thinking about what that might look like, trying to put feet on this idea, so I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts.  This is all an idea that is an embryonic stage, but I was excited about it today and wanted to share, as well as to hear some helpful response.

I shouldn't be having so much trouble shooting a basketball. I'm 24 years old. I feel like I should be in the prime of my life. The world is open and exciting before me. And I hate to think that I've already passed my prime. But the prime of life doesn't just happen. It's worked for.

I've become lazy, sluggish, procrastinating, weak, and safe. It's time for that to change. So I'm going to start working on getting back into my training. I think it will help me have better blog posts, better conversations, better sermons, deeper relationships, bigger faith, more honest prayers, and a sweeter jump shot.

Then maybe that 12 year-old-kid won't dunk over me next week.