I have finally decided to get my butt back in the gym, with a little added push from my friend. Although like many things, the start was daunting. However, once I was on the eliptical machine, I realized that it wasn’t so bad. With no head phones or ipod to distract my mind for thirty-five minutes of rote movement, my focus was on the time – which seemed to be at a standstill. As the time slowly ticked second-by-second, I began to get more anxious, my breathing became heavier, and my pace slowed down.

I thought – I can’t go out like this – it was only five minutes into my exercise; I was so tired I didn’t know if I had enough energy to even make it to ten minutes.

I then decided to closed my eyes.

It only took a moment for my mind to drift off into another world – thoughts of school, of what to eat when I got home, of friends I was going to call after I left the gym. And after a few moments, my heart stopped pounding viciously at my chest, and my breathing became effortless. When I finally opened my eyes, I had five minutes remaining.

But what if I took this approach to my life. How often do I focus on the time – “too old to have children or go back to school, too young to be in love, too young to have kids, pressure to have a career by thirty”….and so on. The intense focus on time makes me so anxious that in my race against the clock, I have become distracted from the purpose of life.

By closing my eyes and moving in faith, I can learn to focus on each task at hand – completing it effortlessly and at a steady pace.

The completion of a task is my goal not running down the stopwatch.