Some recent and relatively brief thoughts on balancing life’s physical and spiritual demands.
Maybe it’s just my age and/or personal interests that send me so many algorithm-driven posts on physical health. They seem to be everywhere. And, admittedly, I’m doing quite a bit to focus on it. I started working with a concierge doctor who ordered tests that reveal just about everything happening inside my body—possible threats and things that can be addressed —with the goal of staving off future dangers before they become critical. I’m also learning about things that are on the cusp of going wrong. For instance, I have a borderline rotator cuff tear, so my doctor says I should be careful about the kind of lifting I do to build my shoulders. Apparently, the Rock’s status as having bigger shoulders than me is safe for the time being.
If you’re a generation younger than me (in your forties), I’d urge you to do this now, while you still have time to prevent further damage, rather than figuring out how to repair damage that’s already been done (if you can). My doctor focuses on what Peter Attia calls the four horsemen: neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer’s, dementia), cardiovascular health (heart attacks and strokes), cancer, and metabolic disease (diabetes, insulin resistance, liver disease, etc.). My body seems to be doing fairly well keeping three of the four horses at bay, but we can hear the hoofbeats of one.
I’m also at that age where friends my age have already received life-ending diagnoses or have died. One of the healthiest men in my high school graduating class, who raced bicycles up until the day he died on one, reminds me that every day really is a gift. I’ve already lived two and a half years longer than a man who took excellent care of his health. Just about every time I jump on my bike, I think of Rick.
While it’s wise to be good stewards of our bodies and our minds, and while I believe exercise improves our current quality of life rather than just adding length to it, God keeps reminding me to dive deeper into eternal life now. It’s responsible to focus on physical health; it’s irresponsible to place it above spiritual health. “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).
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