From Coach Scott Sonnon's web site:

"When you imagine walking through a health club, what do you visualize? Sadly, most people's conception includes televisions, stereos, ipods, magazines and book racks.

What do all of these objects have in common? They're distractions. But have you ever stopped to wonder why they are there in the first place? It's a fundamental question. What is there to be distracted from while exercising, and why would you even consider it?

I'll share an analogy to illustrate my point.


A man was told by his doctor that he was dying. When asked what he wanted for his final meal, the dying man replied, "Ice cream of every flavor." When it arrived, he took a spoonful and immediately recalled the first time he had eaten ice cream. He remembered all the times he had turned it down in order to be fit and thin. He realized how silly that was now. He felt angry that only there, in the last few minutes of his life, he was finally allowing himself to experience a simple pleasure. With that thought, he looked down to see that he had finished the entire bowl while he was reflecting on his life. He took his final breath and he died.

We're conditioned by our culture of over-abundance to think of exercise as burning fat and building muscle, when it's actually a celebration of living in this physical body. Exercise is a privilege. It's a blessing. It's how we relish the bliss of being here now in this physicality.

Because we're taught that exercise is about burning fat and building muscle, and that we have to "work" out in order to do this, we do everything possible to distract ourselves from that arduous task. We watch the "boob tube" and blast our MP3 players on high volume while paging through the latest celebrity stalker magazine.

Exercise is an opportunity to practice being 100% present in your body. You honor that gift of being in your body by doing so. Your body, this Divine gift, is your Church, and you pray through your sweat.

The past no longer exists. The future has not yet happened. There is only one time to exercise, and that is now.

Distract yourself from distractions. Focus on your breath instead. When a distraction creeps in, always come back to your breath. If you stay in the now you will always improve. There will never be regress, because it will be impossible by definition.

Do this and your entire life will be your playground."

AND YOU CAN EAT THE ICE CREAM!!!!!!