I went to the gym this morning. Dear reader, I can’t tell you the last time I was intentional about going to the gym! I have the time in my schedule to get up, take my son to school and get in some much needed sweating way before I have to get to work.

It felt good.

I ignored the jiggle of my inner thighs, I refused to pay attention to my low stamina, my awkward jumping jacks and the tightness all over. Rather, I told myself:

I’m here.

The goal is to be here again and again over and over again. This push that I need goes beyond my tummy, my chubby cheeks and my low stamina. Rather this push is for my own mental health, the endorphins that cruise through my body is like no other feeling in the world. As we watch the horrors that happens everyday here on US soil and abroad I am constantly reminded of how quickly everything can change. This life we live is fragile and without a warning it can be gone.

Therefore, it’s my duty to live the best life I can live for myself. There’s no time to harp too much on a past that won’t allow you to move forward, the boulevard of broken dreams is paved in trauma, laughter and love. For some of us it’s difficult to untangle the love from the trauma. However, through it all we must not stop. We must not stop in loving our lives as authentically as possible, we must not stop seeing the beauty within the chaos and we must work on seeing those we love for no reason at all. Let us come together just because..not for a funeral, not for an illness, and not for a tragedy.

Wish me luck as I try to make a morning gym stop as a part of my daily routine. I pray for those here and abroad that are enduring unimaginable pain, I pray for those that have an opportunity to be their best selves, to in fact be their best selves. Until next time; blessings.