Lessons about Nonsensical Living from Water Aerobics Class

About 3-4 weeks ago I joined a gym here in Tallahassee and started doing water aerobics. Some of the advantages of exercising in water include the following:  less stress on the joints due to less weight bearing; muscle toning due to the greater resistance caused by water than air; and, most importantly, since the body is primarily underwater, it is difficult to see who is giving their all and who is just doing enough to get by. I try to be a member of the “giving their all” group, but, I confess, it is easy to slip into the “enough to get by” slackers. Because our instructor is aware that we may be slackering, she often yells out the question, “Why are you here?” thereby pointing out the nonsensical nature of attending an exercise class for the purpose of avoiding exertion. What is the point of going to water aerobics if one doesn’t actually exercise?

So I started answering this question, “Why am I here?” Why would I show up to exercise, but neglect to work hard at it? Perhaps my goal isn’t really to improve my physical health. Maybe I just want to pretend that I do, thereby making myself and those who care about me believe that I am being proactive. Or maybe I want to go exercise because it will help me to reason that my late night TV snack is justified because I worked out earlier in the day.  Or maybe I truly want to exercise and improve my health, but I just don’t have the fortitude to give it my all. Giving one’s all is a difficult thing.

I am at the point in time that many call mid-life. My oldest daughter is graduated from college and is finding her way in life as an adult. My youngest daughter is off to school as a college freshman.  And I confess, I have been asking myself the question, “Why am I here?”  It has been easy for me to become engrossed in various roles in life as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, or an employee to the point that I forget that those identities are all a part of my identity as a Christ Follower, a child of God. The waxing and waning of various roles in life is inevitable. Infusing every opportunity that I am given with “my all” is, perhaps, what it means to love God with all one’s heart, mind, soul, and strength. It is nonsensical to give any less than all to God and, yet, as in the aerobics pool, I am tempted to do just that- give less. I am tempted to appear to be giving my all while still holding back. At other times I drop the pretense, throw up my hands, and admit that it is too hard to give my all. But God’s voice calls to me, “Why are you here?” Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

So, yes, I am at water aerobics pondering the meaning of the instructor’s question and seriously applying it to my life. Yes, I am jumping up when everyone else is down. I am scissor kicking when I am supposed to be dog-paddling. I am circling left when I am supposed to be circling right. And, yes, my instructor is watching me and wondering, “Why is she here?”