Introduction to Spiritfyt

Spirituality: the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.

Fitness: the condition of being physically fit and healthy.

These are two concepts that play hand in hand, don’t you think? Because how could the human spirit, which lives in our bodies – you know, those meat sacks we need to keep healthy for our spirits to live in them – be happy if we’re not taking care of it? Remember that saying, treat your body like a temple? It’s not too far-fetched to believe that our inner spirits would actually be quite upset with us if we didn’t. Which, I mean, lets be honest…some of us don’t.

Many of us love sweets, fast food, fried foods, unhealthy foods we grew up eating, and our favorite foods. On top of that, how many of us are actually working out while eating that way on a consistent basis? Most people go to the gym with the goal of eating right, losing weight, and getting toned, so if fast food is dinner every night, are you really going to the gym every day? That was rhetorical. You know the answer.

This blog post isn’t to make anyone feel bad, but its actually to introduce spiritual fitness. So, hello, my name is Destiny Hawkins, and I’m a former depressed binge eater. I am also a new follower of Jesus Christ who has awakened my spirit from the dead through health, fitness, and His living word. If you haven’t yet, you should check out this book called the Bible. It has some pretty juicy stories in there that relate to our lives and even helps us navigate through life today. Crazy right? Nope, but that’s how you’ll sound to your friends.

So, what exactly is Spiritfyt about? You guessed it. Spiritual Fitness. Its about keeping your body clean, healthy, and lean, while feeding your mind and spirit with the word of God and living in His perfect will. But, we won’t get too deep into that today, not even on the subject of fitness. Today, I just want to talk about how this blog came to life through my own resurrection from the dead.

I was once what people called the walking dead, and yes, that was my favorite show. I couldn’t relate to the characters, but I could relate to the zombies. Only, my heart was beating, my mind was working—sort of—and I could move without dragging any limbs behind, unless we count dragging my feet. I could work, talk, laugh—sometimes—sleep—also sometimes—eat a lot—and breathe—although I did spend years expressing that I couldn’t. But I was technically alive. Spiritually, it was like hell on earth. I don’t know if some of you could understand this, but it was as if I were numb inside. I couldn’t truly feel anything anymore unless it was negative. I didn’t have motivation, and I was sad most of the time, but I could smile for the camera and move through the motions. I told people I was okay while staying up at night debating suicide. I ate for pleasure, and was never full, trying to fill the emptiness in my heart like that was even possible. I went to work, where my coworkers could see that something was off about me, but after years of walking around with a half-hearted smile and a bad haircut, I felt normal. Normal and unhappy. Because unhappiness was normal at that point.

Back then, I was a fantasy writer that spent most of all my time writing, and hoping that it would bring something better into my life. I worked every day with faith in my heart that a peaceful life would come, because the consistent rejection, mistreatment, and disrespect was starting to take a serious toll on my mind and my confidence. Dealing with it for so long drove me to consistently try and prove myself to the people around me, so I wanted money. Enough money to get away from it all, change my name, and live in a new country. Okay, maybe not change my name, but since I was just a preteen, I have had dreams of getting away where I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of rejection any longer. Those who hurt me would have to see me get big from a distance, and new people would finally see me for who I was and not the person they created in their minds. There would be no more misunderstood Destiny.

Growing up, all I wanted was acceptance, so if I couldn’t get away, I at least wanted respect. All those years of yearning for love caused me to charge headfirst into my writing career. Forget school, I became a college dropout. Nothing was more motivating than becoming a successful writer. My goal was to get rich and become a famous author, which was what I thought brought love and respect, but while I buried my head into the books, I spent a lot of time missing out on life, friends, and family. And when my career didn’t get me any further than the house I grew up in, I completely crashed out.

I felt like a total failure. And it didn’t make sense either. I spent all my high school years working hard for good grades, staying in sports, staying out of trouble, trying to make the best decisions, being well-mannered, and being that overachiever, so how could I fail? I didn’t think that those things made me perfect, but I knew I had what it took. It wasn’t as if my life was easy. Every day felt hard, and I had to consistently motivate myself to push through it. Not to mention that it was so stressful trying to be the perfect kid. I used to wish I could be like the C-average kids because they seemed so carefree while I was responsible and uptight. At least they had friends.

All that time, and I mean, like ten years of my adult years, I worked nonstop with the same hopes and dreams. I always imagined that when I finally made it, I could just relax and would sleep for at least 365 days to get my energy back. Well, I never made it. Instead, I burnt out and slept for a year anyways, only I was broke and depressed.

I didn’t realize what I had truly been missing until an old friend of mine randomly texted me: “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior?” I had seen her Instagram posts a few times before and knew that she had gotten into that “Christian thing”, but didn’t think much of it. Her message was perfect timing because I hadn’t accepted Him, but I sure was ready then. From there she just talked to me, fed me information on Christ, and then had somehow been assigned to disciple me. It all felt so random, but it was just right, because I was at my lowest. Broken and defeated. I had been living in all the seven deadly sins for so long, my spirit had wasted away, and I was truly gone. I mean, like lost my mind gone. I fully expected to be sent to a mental hospital at one point. I was like that deeply passionate, dissociative author that would cut off their own ear. If it weren’t for my new sister in Christ, I would have never been reborn. Of course, if you ask her, she’ll say God sent her. That woman never takes credit for anything, and I strive to be a great example like her one day. So, thank you Jesus, for sending me my sister in Christ.

After enough learning, I decided to get baptized on May 5th, 2024.

Now, with Jesus Christ in my life, everything has completely changed for me. Well, mostly. I still live with my mother, and I still work a 9-5 job, but I technically just started my journey so let’s see where it takes me! Inside though, my spirit is ALIVE! I spent so many years feeling dead inside that there is an obvious change in how my spirit feels. I also have a better haircut, which says a lot! My skin started glowing, my smile had become radiant, I eat cleaner, I dress better – thank God, I’ve met some great people, I’m doing things that I love, and my overall attitude is on the positive side. The old me has died, and Destiny, daughter of Christ, has been reborn. Of course, I have to die to my flesh every day, but that’s another subject for another blog post.

Ever since my rebirth, God has been pushing me towards better health and fitness. I currently go to the gym six days a week, I identify as a “bodybuilder”, and I just earned my certificate for nutrition, which allows me to become a nutrition coach. After some serious time of really pushing the weights, staying in my bible, and transforming my mind, body, and spirit, I started up Spiritfyt on Instagram, where I promote the same subjects that I will be promoting here: Spiritual Fitness. You’ll also find some of your favorite scriptures and videos of my transformation as proof that the blood works. Meaning, God’s word is solid:

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!" –2 corinthians 5:17 CSB

Look forward to health, fitness, and spiritual tips that I learn, study, and share throughout the blog. You can also sign up for nutrition coaching if you would like to begin your health journey with me and start getting on the right track!