The Pivot

This post is by Cindy Chen.

I’m of an age that the word ‘pivot’ makes me recall a couch being moved through a certain stairwell on the TV show, ‘Friends.’ Even though I didn’t really watch it when it was in its prime, the word ‘pivot’ has become a funny part of the American vocabulary.

A pivot is a change in direction around one point that is staying in place. Think of a running horse stopping short, leaning into his hindquarters, twirling on one hind foot while his other three legs redirect his whole body to another direction in a hurry. 

Sometimes the day doesn’t go according to plan. A late start, car trouble, or an impromptu visit with a friend can change our direction quickly. We incorporate Plan Time as a way to make the most of every day and follow where Jesus leads. Sometimes our plans go out the window, and that’s just the flow of life. 

Rather than become upset that our opportunity to exercise and move has been taken from us, we can pivot. We can evaluate where we are, what the rest of the day looks like from here, and we can twist and adjust. Maybe I was going to go for a run, but now it’s thundering. Pivot! Maybe I missed all my gym camp times that fit into my day. Pivot! Maybe I’m injured and need to rest. Pivot! 

What does a pivot look like when it comes to our Move Time? 

When your timing doesn’t work out, think about what matters about your move time for today. Is it important that you exercise for a certain number of minutes? Or that you just get your heart rate a bit elevated? Do you have a training plan to follow? Try swapping one day for another based on your available time. Perhaps you don’t do a full workout, but maybe you can walk the dog for 15 minutes before the sun goes down. You could even invite someone to come with you.

When you’re injured or sick, think not only about the action of movement, but the ways you can support your body in healing well. Maybe the best move you can make is to schedule a physical therapy appointment. Maybe you can support your body by taking a nap. Overdoing it, especially when we’re sick or stressed, can give us more trouble than taking a day off with the intention of giving ourselves quality rest. I love that the 3 Minute Morning routine involves simply taking 10 deep breaths. If that’s all you have done today, do it and be blessed. 

Consistency is powerful, however being able to hold the specifics loosely without compromising the daily offering of any kind of movement is the key. Can we just show up, in whatever way we can muster? That faithfulness, where we do what we can, offering what we can and anticipating that God will strengthen our bodies and souls in our obedience, is what will keep us from giving up. 

This summer it was outrageously hot in Georgia, with heat indices in the 100’s for days on end. I’ve recently taken up running, but running after about 7 AM was out of the question. So I made good use of my air conditioned gym. I took walks when I could, sometimes just as the sun was setting. Then when the weather cooled, I hurt my foot, and couldn’t run for a couple of weeks. So I pulled out a bike, and biked my neighborhood instead. My foot wasn’t bothered, and I still did something fun and challenging.

I track my workouts on a sheet of paper provided by my gym, with a bubble around every day of the year. I love the satisfaction of filling in every day that I go to my gym camp with a blue highlighter. On days I run, I fill that day’s bubble with a yellow highlighter. And then, when I picked up cycling, I filled those days in pink. I have such a colorful bubble chart on my pantry door right now, my personal testament to the power of the pivot. 

Cindy Chen is not afraid to call herself a runner anymore. She runs, so by definition is a runner. Other than that, she writes, drives her kids all over the greater Atlanta area for school and sports, and occasionally takes an overgrown puppy for walks. She and her husband and 4 kids live outside of Atlanta.

Photo by Christian Kaindl on Unsplash