One of my lenten practices has been a focus on my physical health, my vitality.  I want to be in better shape.  I want more energy.  I just want to feel healthier.  Of course, there are many ways to do this.  From committing to the gym and exercise on a routine basis, to monitoring what I ingest.  All of it is involved.

One practice I’m trying to incorporate daily is working on my core.  I am attempting to do a plank everyday for at least 1 minute.  I am trying to increase that time as I go through lent, trying to get to 3 minutes before the end of lent.  I’m also committing to sit ups daily.  Core exercises have many benefits.  They help with balance and stability.  They help strengthen back muscles.  They help with lifting and bending.  There are so many pluses to a good core.

However, I am also trying to focus on my C.O.R.E. - Center Of Relevancy and Energy.  That’s the place in me where I reside.  Where my true self is.  Where my gifts, talents, strengths and potential are.  That C.O.R.E. is essential to my well being too.  It helps me find balance in my life when it gets out of whack.  It gives me strength when I need it most.  It helps me lift up myself and others when life throws a big pile of poo on us!

It’s the very center of my being that gives me purpose.  It’s where I find my relevancy, my why.  It’s where I get energy for the day and tasks that lie ahead of me.

My C.O.R.E. connects me to my God, my spiritual center, my higher power.  It is the place that centers me when life is throwing me off center.  The “plank” that I do for this C.O.R.E. is an exercise that I hold for longer than a minute.  In fact, I try to hold it for at least 20 minutes.  It’s my daily prayer and meditation practice.  It’s the practice where I focus solely on me and my connection to something bigger than myself - God.  I hold it, sometimes painfully and shaking, so that I can become stronger in my true essence.  I hold it so that I can be reminded (yet, again) of my life purpose.  I hold it so that I can be a healthy presence in a world so in need of healing.

How are you working your C.O.R.E. today?  And what is being strengthened in you as you work your C.O.R.E.?  What is your relevancy?