The clock showed a time of 4:45PM. I had procrastinated as long as possible. I had tidied up my desk, turned off my computer, cleaned my coffee cup, chatted with a co-worker, but now it was time. It was time to exercise with my ultra fit wife.

You see the night before Charlene had asked me if I wanted to go running after work and my response of “You go ahead” had generated a look of sadness. You see, it was going to be a pretty day. You see, we do enjoy running together. You see, it would certainly help me shed some of my Winter weight.

In that moment of spousal disappointment, in that moment of focusing on all of the good, in that moment when I could not truly appreciate how much more fit my wife is at this very moment in time, I did an about face and agreed to join her on a run.

Yes, I looked forward to the time with my beautiful bride, but oh was I scared. Scared that my Winter weight would hold me back. Slow me down. Scared that the proposed five mile run was a full five miles longer than I had run all month. Yes, I was scared. Hence the procrastination. A full 15 minutes of procrastination, but if I could just muster the courage. Courage to chug along on that evening’s run. I could do it. I could take a stride toward healthy. Take a leap toward making my wife happy. Take a jump in the direction of something positive. Also, at 15 minutes, it was most likely my shortest ever bought of exercise procrastination. Now, there’s proof of a step in the right direction.