Got Blues? (July 17, 2008)

This is from Dailydevotions.org: I am posting this because I definitely need to hear it but I thought someone else might enjoy it as well. Got Blues? Clarence jogged almost every day, and every day he’d see his neighbor, Emil. Emil’d drive by in his car, slow to a jogger’s pace, and say, “Clarence, you don’t smile when you run. Why don’t you smile? Aren’t you having fun? You don’t look happy.” “I am happy,” Clarence would puff. It was always the same conversation, and then one day Emil was gone. Months went by, and then, one day, there was Emil again, only he wasn’t driving. Emil was walking and working up a sweat along the road’s shoulder. When Clarence caught up with Emil, he stopped and asked Emil where’d he been? Emil said, “It was my heart. I nearly died. It turns out that all that eating, and worrying, and sitting around wasn’t so good for the old ticker. The doctor told me I have to vigorously exercise 20 minutes a day, whether it’s cleaning the house, joining a spinning class or taking a walk. And you know what? I feel better after exercise, and not just physically.” Clarence replied, “Exercise banishes my blues.” The British Journal of Sports Medicine reports that anxiety, stress and depression are reduced by up to 33% by energetic exercise. Human beings were designed by God to work our muscles, and it turns out that working our muscles is healthy for our brains. That’s good news for the psyche and the soul. Let’s Pray: Dear God, we are built with tools to banish our blues, sort of like a defrag system for the soul. Give us the motivation to move. Amen. Today’s Thought Is: Staying active — banishes the blues.