Fit for Kingdom - Creating Community

This is an article I wrote for the summer 2016 newsletter.

The theme of this issue is “Equipping Others.” In terms of fitness, we can equip and help others in their fitness journey. This can be done through creating opportunities for fitness when spending time with our family and friends.

Change how you socialize

As I started my fitness journey, I became more aware of my food choices. This led me to want to eat out less, especially as I browsed nutrition menus and saw the amount of calories and sodium in restaurant food. I quickly realized that when I met friends and family to hang out and catch up, it often was around food. One quick fix was to change where and how we met. Now when I meet them to catch up, instead of meeting at a restaurant or coffee shop, we meet at a park and go for a walk and are able to talk without the distractions and interruptions surrounding restaurant dining. Plus being outdoors is great for our health.

Speaking of being outdoors, why not plan a day hike with friends and family. There are many trails at different endurance levels that are very close to where we live.

Share your fitness journey

Another way we can create community in the area of fitness is to share our stories. I recently posted an article on my blog sharing results from my fitness journey. The  largest result? I was able to stop taking blood pressure medication. The story led people to ask me more questions about my journey and path.

Add in some competition

There are tools like Fitbits that can be used to engage in some friendly competition with your community. It can be the extra motivation you need to get those extra steps in. I hear of people adding 15 minutes of walking just to finish number one in their community group.

Engage your family and friends

There are many fun things that also include physical fitness. This is true especially during the warm, summer months. You and your family and friends can go on nice walks in the evenings or go on bike rides on the weekends on one of the many bike trails in our area.

Here are some things you can do with family and friends.

Go for a walk

Walking for wellness is free, low impact, and something you can do on your own schedule. Remember, it does not have to be all at once. If you find 10 minutes three times a day, that is 30 minutes. Walk to wellness!

Just dance

Whether you are alone or with family and friends, just turn on the music and dance. The thing about exercise is that it is just about moving your body. It doesn’t have to involve classes or gyms.

Do housework

Whether with your family or roommate, doing household chores is a form of exercise.

Add in stairs

Encourage your friends and family to take the stairs with you.

Walk your dog

If you have a dog, walk your dog as a family.

Do a marathon, 5K, or other race/activity

Do you plan on walking or running in a race? Why not ask your family and/or friends to join you?

Gardening

Enlist your family and friends to help you in the garden. Gardening is great exercise but be careful with all of the bending.

Have a weekly sport/game night

Why not play basketball with your friends and family. It is something you can do indoors and outdoors so weather is not an issue. You could also play video games that require dance and movement. You could also go bowling or ice-skating.

At the end of the day, it’s just about getting your body moving. Exercise is good for the body and the soul, and engaging your community is good for your motivation as well the health of your community.

Bainbridge Island

I spent part of the day on Bainbridge Island with Candy and Diane to see the works of Barbara Earl Thomas at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. It was awesome!

Diane, Candy, and I boarding the ferry

One of my favorite view of Seattle.

One of the written pieces

Some of the painting pieces

One of the glass pieces

Wind blown look

Having fun

Rock and Roll Seattle

I walked the Rock and Roll Seattle half marathon with Crystal and Demetrius! We rocked it out in around three and a half hours. There is such a sense of satisfaction that comes from crossing the finish line.

This was my fourth half marathon! I have now done two Seattle and two Rock and Roll Seattle's. My goal is to do two a year.

I am always aware of the other people running/walking. There are different ages and there are different body types. Everyone is just trying to finish. We found our comfortable stride, and we kept it.

I'm working on a fitness article for my church newsletter. I'm writing about coming together as a community to exercise and get/stay healthy. Perfect timing and illustration. We had a lot of time to talk, joke, reflect in silence, and just be with each other. All while doing exercise in the great outdoors. 

Here are some pictures:

Me, Crystal, and Demetrius moving to the start line

A shot of downtown Seattle. We were almost to the finish line!

Finishers with our medals!

A sister was hungry! Not a morsel was left on my plate!

Pasta Making Class

June's activity was making homemade pasta from scratch. I got a Groupon for Eat Local, and I was very pleased with the class and overall value of the Groupon!

The class was small (I think some people didn't make it). The instructor was great. Throughout, we were brought samples of some of their food offerings. The food was really good. We also got a plate of pasta and a small dessert. So I left feeling quite full. They offered complimentary beverages.

The recipe was three ingredients. Yes; three! Flour, eggs, and a pinch of salt.

This is something I would do again, if I had a pasta making machine. Hint hint. If anyone wants to invest in one for me or give me their old one. I would make some pasta for you.

The three ingredients

I made a mound with two cups of flour, and cracked three large eggs in the center

Action Shot: I used a fork to bring the flour, pinch of salt, and eggs together

Kneaded dough

Wrapped and sat aside for 15 minutes

Cut the dough in half, and used this apparatus to do one half at a time

Stretching the dough out

I decided to make spaghetti noodles

Action Shot: Making my pasta!

My pasta to take home

Dinner

Looking at the man in the mirror, first

I am going to begin by looking at the man in the mirror first.

When 9-11 happened, I was on a cruise in the Mexican Riviera. When it was time to fly back home, I was a little nervous and on edge, as I think most of the people I saw in LAX were. I was looking at everyone wondering about their intent. And to be perfectly honest, I was looking for people who fit the profile.

Even with a short flight, there was no direct flight. We had to fly back via Portland, if memory serves correct. On the LAX to Portland leg of the trip, there were two gentlemen who were of Middle Eastern descent. It was a very tense flight, and the eyes of everyone on the plane seemed to be on these two gentlemen. They seemed to know each other, but they were not sitting together. I was sitting in an aisle seat. At some point in the flight, the gentlemen who was sitting some rows in front of me, went some rows in back of me to talk to his friend. As he was making his way back to his seat, I sort of stuck my head in the aisle to make sure he sat down. And this was not my finest hour.

But what brought me back to myself was when I looked up and saw that the man who was sitting across from me was doing the same thing. We made eye contact, and then we both sort of relaxed and started laughing. Like what are we doing? We had let fear override any sense of vetting guilty vs. innocent. We had decided that they were guilty simply because of their descent. The flight had been so tense, and I think we startled/scared those around us with the sudden laughter. In retrospect, the conversation these two men had was probably asking each other, “Do you fear for your life?”

Furthermore, as a black person, I know how it feels to be judged and treated for nothing simply other than the color of my skin. I went shopping with a coworker who happens to be Asian. We went somewhere in Bellevue, and on a side note, I don’t do eastside simply for this reason. We went into several stores, before she turned to me and said, “LaTonja. They have followed you in all of the stores we have gone into.” She was so indignant for me. She was even more indignant when my response was a shrug and an “I’m used to being followed.” She assured me that it was “not right.” And I assured her that I agreed but it was reality. I could digress into more examples, but I am tired.

I say all of that to say this. I am so tired of the hate that is being sown into the world. I am so tired of the political rhetoric of people like Trump calling to “ban all Muslims.” And there are people who agree with him. I know how it feels to be stereotyped and treated because of the color of my skin. You will never find me in that number, I am saddened by those who follow along. 

What would the ban do? Would the world be safer? No. It might make you feel better, but it goes back to that feeling of if I do A, B, C or if I do not do X, Y, Z nothing bad will ever happen to me. Furthermore, it would only serve to cause more division. I am tired of the divide based on race, religion, politics, etc. We have more in common in our basic humanity, and I am wary of those who constantly try to find ways to divide (and conquer).

There have been white male “domestic” terrorists, but I don’t hear a call to ban white males from anything. But wait, it was “mental illness” that caused these actions. I am so over double standards. To me the equivalent of banning all Muslims is the equivalent of me assuming every white male I meet from the South is a member of the KKK. It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? What has the higher probability? A white male I meet in the South being a member of the KKK or a Muslim person I meet being a terrorist. Regardless, both assumptions are equally asinine and without merit.

So Trump wants to close the borders to keep “the Mexicans” out. Close the borders to keep “the Muslims” out. He has plenty of people nodding in support. I would caution these people. Today it’s “the Mexicans.” Tomorrow it’s “the Muslims.” But guess what? Your number will be called next week or next month and then that martial law the extreme right seems to be so paranoid about will come to pass.

All because hate was allowed to be sown unchecked.

I will take you back to pre-WWII. Germany’s economy was in the tanks. Then a charismatic speaker stood up and explained just why the economy was bad. Just why hardworking Germans couldn’t get jobs. Sound familiar? It should. And it has nothing to do with an evil boogie man coming to take your job.

I refuse to silently sit back and watch this happen.

Look at Trump’s rallies. Violent. We can debate whether protesters or attendees are the instigator. I don’t really care. I am more interested in putting out the root cause, which is the unchecked sowing of hatred that is all around us. Sowing the wind, reaping the whirlwind.