Take that First Step

You haven't tried the 4-minute routine yet? OK, I'll give you something easier to do, just so long as you take the first step. But before I show you a super-simple exercise that will make you feel great, let me tell you a parable:

A group of friends once made a trip together. On the way to their destination, they saw someone standing with a backpack on a desert crossroads. Seven days later, on their way home, they encountered the same person with the backpack standing on the same desert crossroads in the hot sun. The group of friends asked the backpacker, "Why are you standing here?"

"I want to go to Jerusalem," responded the backpacker. "I'm waiting for a ride."

"How long have you been waiting?" they asked.

"More than a week," he answered.

They laughed. "Jerusalem's only a two-day walk from here. If you'd have started walking, you could have been there and back four times already!"

Many of us want to change, yet we expect it to happen automatically, with no effort on our part. Life doesn't work that way. An old Hebrew expression says, "Even a journey of a thousand kilometers begins with a first step."

For years, you've been dreaming of getting in shape, losing weight or both. Take the first step! Walk for a few minutes or begin doing a simple and relaxing exercise like this. You'll love it and you'll feel so much better. And before you know it, you'll be well on the way to achieving your goal - if not all of it, then at least a good chunk of it.

Don't be afraid - go ahead and take that first step up your personal mountain. Step by step, you'll get to the top.