How Local Accountability Transformed My Exercise Routine

 

     I walked into the shoe store at 6:43, knowing they closed at 7:00 sharp.

     "Hey, I know y'all close at 7, and I'm sorry to come so late, but do you have time for a fitting? My friend and I walked here."

     "Um, fittings usually take about 30–45 minutes," the hesitant salesman replied.

     "Does it help if I'm super decisive?" I asked, eying the three pairs of shoes I already knew I would want to try on if given the chance.

     "Yeah, that certainly helps," he said, still doubtful that he'd get to leave work at a decent hour.

     Fourteen minutes later, I left the shoe store. On a bench outside, I shoved my old tennis shoes into a box and tied the new ones on my feet.

     "Let's try to avoid puddles on the way back," I told my friend, gingerly stepping around the mud in our path. I juggled the box of old tennis shoes with a light heart. I finally had shoes that weren't falling apart and would support my feet for our long, conversational walks.

     "I timed you. Fourteen minutes. That was incredible," she said in awe.

~

     Nothing has transformed my exercise quite like accountability, routine, and a local friend. Walking has always been the main form of exercise I enjoy (followed closely by biking and dancing to Just Dance in my living room). However, before I met up with a friend in my neighborhood for us to walk together, I couldn't call my occasional walking a "routine."

     Now she and I walk several miles together three evenings a week, getting our legs, cardio, and conversation in all at the same time. We meet at our regular spot, and we have our favorite paths memorized.

     Social walks don't feel exhaustingly social because you're side by side and focused on the exercise. And the exercise doesn't feel like exercise when you have a lighthearted conversation to distract you.

     It's the best of both worlds.

     Texting each other, "Walk tonight?" has made accountability easy. It's truly transformed my nonexistent exercise into a regular routine that fits into my schedule and helps me to meet my health goal for 2021: getting outside for a walk three times a week.

     This kind of accountability means that if one of us doesn't show up, the other is less likely to go for a walk. In this way, we must encourage one another as well as give each other grace (Hebrews 10:24).

     So we make a plan. I put it on my calendar.

     She shows up. I show up.

     Dinner can wait. I have new shoes to try out.

~

     In which area of your life do you need a local accountability buddy?

~Madeline