Nearly 2,000 years ago, Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of Rome who may have been even better known as a philosopher, wrote that successful living is "more like wrestling than dancing."

Today, the world is different. Today, we need to change that image and the simile to metaphor.Today, successful living is not like anything. Successful living is juggling.You need to juggle sometimes precariously your family life, a full-time job, and community commitments while somehow managing to maintain a healthy level of emotional and physical fitness.And while you may think keeping several objects in the air at the same time might actually be easier than getting a firm grip on your life, both are skills you can learn. That's why I'd like to introduce to you Erika Ahner, reader of this column and juggler extraordinaire.Erika, 42, is married, has an eight-year-old son, works a full-time job, weighs about the same as she did as a teen, knows she's in better shape than back then, yet feels she "isn't unique by any means." She expressed that belief in an email a few weeks ago that covered all sorts of interesting things, one being how it amazes her that "people think being healthy is so difficult."It amazes me, too, but I also know that I'm . . . well, shall we say, a bit left of center. That my commitment to health and fitness can be viewed by a typical reader someone who's juggling all that's involved in being a loving spouse, a dutiful parent, an active community member, and a productive employee as . . . well, a bit extreme.So when I also read in the email that ordinary Erika managed to run her third yes third! half-marathon 20 minutes faster than her second one, I knew it would benefit readers to learn more about her. Especially when she didn't really get serious about exercise until after her son was born and was far from what you'd consider a natural runner.Erika started running by adding segments of jogging into her typical walking route after she got some advice from her sister who had just started to run. Slowly, she increased the jogging segments until she was running all of her old walking course.With encouragement from some fellow members of Dedicated Fitness where she takes cross-training classes, Erika signed up for a 5k (3.1 mile) running race. At that time, the thought of running another 10 miles to complete the half-marathon distance seemed "crazy." In fact, she joked that "even saying 13.1 miles is tiring."But running one 5k led to others, and since her finishing times kept improving, she gained the confidence to sign up for a half-marathon, despite her rather hectic schedule so hectic, in fact that Erika needed to alter the training schedule recommended to her. One way to save time, she realized was to run on her own and not train with other runners.She also did her longer runs early in the morning on weekends before her husband and son woke up. With such changes, she created a program "that worked for me" and finished a first half-marathon. And then a second.Part of the dramatic, 20-minute improvement Erika made this May between half-marathons two and three an improvement that caused her to "grin for a week" resulted because she found the time to occasionally run with a local group. That gave her an "added push that I can't give myself" and a half-marathon time that fell three minutes under the two-hour mark.Because Erika is not currently in training for a race, she's not training as hard at the moment, but doesn't mean she's neglecting her fitness. She still cross-trains at Dedicated Fitness twice a week and uses the weekends for family-based exercise, such as hiking, biking, and kayaking.Erika concluded her email explaining that the reason she wrote wasn't "to brag," but "as proof that everyone should pay attention" to diet and exercise because it does "pay off," a conviction she called bless her heart "a simple concept."But as you might know from personal experience, acknowledging that "simple concept" and putting it to work are two totally different matters. So if you've been avoiding exercise or not working out nearly often or hard enough, use Erika's story as your guide.No, that doesn't mean you have to run half-marathons. Or even run a mile. It means you start some form of exercise slowly, gain confidence gradually, determine how much of a commitment you want to make, and then set a goal for yourself.And if you still need motivation, consider what Erika wrote in a second email: "Crossing the finish line solidifies all your hard work and makes all the sweat worthwhile."Now all you need to do is decide just what sort of finish line you'd like to cross and devise a plan to get there.