I ask this question because I struggle with it every day. While finding content and joy in how I feel about my body, mind and spirit, I wonder how others in their adult years are dealing with their overall fitness the more they age. 

Fitness for me is all encompassing. Fit mind, fit body, fit emotions. Allow me to be the loudest in the room and say, I do not exercise my body every day! I hate working out. I don’t care if I was built for it and that I ran track for years. It is not something that I enjoy doing. However, exercising does help me relieve stress, anxiety, and free any unnecessary energy I’m feeling in result of my previous day or what has happened during the day. I’ve learned to stretch it out even if I don’t feel like doing an intense workout, but that required a mindset shift. 

So….what does it mean when I say a fit mind. For me, a fit mind is ensuring you are wholly aware of your state of mind. For example, if I’m feeling stressed or feeling like I need to isolate, I have to ask myself fundamentally what caused me to get into that headspace. Because when I get there, I tend to shut down and my personal life begins to suffer. I personally like to treat myself to my favorite meal, or a self care moment to boost my endorphins. I might just go on a walk if the weather is good.

All in all, everything is intertwined. Fit emotions is being able to handle my emotional state in any situation. Never taking things too seriously, or too competitively, or not allowing my frustrations to get the best of me. I’m able to exercise my emotion fitness daily at work, dealing with different personalities, managing people, at church and in my personal relationships. 

Fitness is never always fun but we are constantly exercising our minds, bodies, and emotions. Whenever I get overwhelmed, I check myself in those three areas. Have I been physically exercising? Am I struggling to keep my emotions in check? Is my body trying to tell me something? Being consistently in tune with my body enables me to spot the signals earlier rather than later. Once we are able to manage all three, honestly, managing the ups and downs of life gets easier.