Following on from last week’s blog, I was thinking more about how difficult it is for most of us to stick to regular exercise. So many of us just hate the gym, whilst others regularly take out membership only to trail off going with 2 – 3 months!

Then I began to think about all the other areas of my life where consistency and taking a pride in what I do is not a problem. Gradually I began to realise that there are lots of jobs I do with joy. These jobs range from my work as a coach and writer, my role as a mother, my voluntary work, my job as housekeeper and cook, to list just a few. For each of these jobs…

·        I take them very seriously;

·        I take pride in doing them well;

·        I do the parts of them that are not so enjoyable;

·        I accept them as my responsibility;

·        I see them as important;

·        I do them (most of the time) with a loving heart.

However, the one job I did not consider, for a long time, was the job of caring for myself. This was the most important job of all and I took no interest in it. The job of taking regular exercise was part of this. So firstly I needed to take it seriously, be proud of my body and its ability to carry me through life. It was time for me to take my responsibilities seriously - caring for this vessel that aided me in living life to the full. I began to see its importance to me if I was to enjoy life. Finally I saw the importance of loving my body enough to want to fill it with the energy it deserved.

At last I began to fulfil the job I had so long battled against - that of looking after me. I began to give it the joy of being in the moment as I walked in the ‘Green Gym’

available to all of us. I felt the flood of energy surge through me as I exercised each day. More than that, I felt the joy that flooded my soul as I began to feel fully loved by myself.

The job I found in caring fully for myself has one of the most important secrets within it. That of the…

Joy

Of

Being