Life is like a tree it blooms or dies depending on how you feed it…
(벚꽃 -sounds like pop-corn- Chenon S. Korea Picture by Joy Seo.)

Recently I started returning one by one to past loves. My newest return, running. It was something I use to do with my brother, but when life started to take a toll due to all the changes, I let go of a lot of the things that brought me peace (ironically when I needed them the most). Anyway I have been running or walking (when my mom accompanies me) for the past two weeks and I have discovered that returning to an old love is hard. Running still leaves me feeling invigorated and clear headed, however, it returned with new side effects: foot pain and numbness (I don’t like the side effects). I went to my podiatrist who told me to get proper running shoes. Running shoes. Check. However, the pain and numbness still persisted, albeit in waaaay more comfortable shoes. So I went back to my podiatrist who took pictures of my feet, declared them perfect (his words, not mine), and added “The only other reason you are experiencing foot pain is that you are having back problems”. Turns out I had been having back pain, but the pain was so slight I hadn’t really been paying attention to it. That’s when I decided in order to help my back, I needed to strengthen my core. When your core muscles are strong it helps to balance and strengthen the spine, which in turn gets rid of pain. As I pondered my next step, I had an epiphany: “Strengthen your core, carry your burden.”  In life when our core is weak, we become unable to bear the burdens that come with daily living. As I have been strengthening my physical core, I have taken steps necessary to strengthen my spiritual core as well. Why? Strengthen the core, bear the burden…well.

“He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless” (Isaiah 40:29).

So what’s the plan? Strengthen my core.