My body is not the temple I’d like it to be. Some of it doesn’t look the way I’d like it to. Some spots are much more flabby than I’d like. Perfect is about the last descriptive word I’d select to describe my own body….

That said, I am beyond grateful for my body today. I carried all of my current possessions in a backpack while covering another 6+ miles of hiking on Isle Royale today. Not only was I able to carry all 50-ish pounds, I did it while feeling outstanding! Both days of hiking have been phenomenal so far (yes, I realize that I may have just given myself the “Kiss of Death” for saying it. I’ve put much work into preparing for this trip and I’m grateful for how well my body has handled this so far.

Only 13-ish years ago I was in terrible shape, probably the worst I’ve ever been in. At that time I made the decision to take better care of myself and went through a pretty extreme set of lifestyle changes. My mind was laser like focused on being in better shape for both my boys as well as to be able to physically achieve some very intense dreams and goals. Little did I know just how many more ideas and dreams I’d discover along the way to being healthy!

As I walked today I had two opposing thoughts in my head. I was so grateful to be in better shape so I could do things like this while also wondering how much more I could do if ate and trained better while focusing more on my health. I am appreciating both the present and being able to do a trip like this. Even with that thought in mind I can’t help but wonder how much stronger I’d be if I did a better job of eating healthy and worked out a little more. While feeling good in the moment I’m already dreaming bigger dreams for the future.

Body, thank you for handling this trip so well thus far! Please know I appreciate it so much that I’m going to treat you even better when I get home.

Thanks!!