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2018 Is Here!

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2018 is here! What changes will you make? The new year is a great time to commit yourself to better health. Sadly, New Year’s resolutions to get into better shape and go to the gym rarely last out the month of January.  I encourage you to make a commitment to yourself to make fitness a regular part of your life and stick with it.

There is no use getting a gym membership where you either have no real idea where to start or you get into something that’s not a good fit for you.  

Fitness is not a quick fix.  Instead, it is all about the steady, long-term, day-to-day training.  If we all take an honest look at our lives, we can all get an idea of how long we have been abusing our bodies.  The changes for the negative did not happen overnight, and it is going to take some time to get it healthy again. There are no shortcuts.  If something promises a quick fix, run away from it.  

It will be hard to stay committed. You will be tired and sore and there are many days you will not feel like training.  Excuses are a dime a dozen, but those of us that stick with it will find that reward worth it.

There will come a point where you will be amazed at how great you feel.  You will eventually come to the realization that you accepted feeling bad as normal.  

Life is short.  We have no guarantee for tomorrow.  Take care of your body while you are in it.

This could be the year that more of us come to the realization that food is fuel for our bodies. It’s purpose is not to make us happy or comfort us.  Good food, unlike medications, has no negative side effects.  Proper diet is important to our health and can keep us functioning at our best.

You have heard it before,“Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.”

Eat smart, train smart, make it fun and stick with it. You will be amazed at the difference it will make in your life.

 

The Artist We Slayed

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Each of us is born with a gift.  We are all artists capable of creating great works if we nurture our talents.

Painter, writer, sculptor, athlete, musician, actor. Talent alone will only take you so far. You must work your craft relentlessly and never stop improving.

So many of us live a life much like an uncompleted to-do list.  We are always planning, seldom accomplishing.  Why do we give up our pursuit of a plan? It’s painful to not be good at something.  Our minds tell us we will never be good.  We do not want to face criticism. All of these outside influences are not the real problem.

We alone hold the key to the door that impedes our way. Fear breeds more fear and that in turn acts to paralyze us. We keep telling ourselves that it is just not the right time or next week I’ll start, but we are only defeating ourselves.

It is all a form of self-sabotage, just like booze, drugs, meaningless relationships, overeating and anything else we use to fill the void. These detours give us a short burst of pleasure followed by a longer crash because we still have not advanced towards our goals.

I know a lot about being my own worst enemy.  It took me some years to come to terms with this because as you can imagine I have plenty of excuses.  I would keep telling myself and anyone who would listen that it was not my fault, that it was beyond my control.

In truth, I was afraid of working hard towards my real ambitions because they seemed far from ever happening.  Instead, I was content to grab what I could for immediate gratification. This is what I like to call low hanging fruit, it may not be the best but it was temporarily filling.

The artist you slayed long ago can be brought back to life. We all possess the tools necessary to complete the job. It will require a well thought out game plan with a definite beginning and ending. We also have to accept right at the start that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.  The closer we get to creating our masterpiece the more life will throw impediments in our way.  

We may never be an artist like Michelangelo, a wordsmith like Hemingway or a filmmaker as great as Akira Kurosawa, but we can create our own art for others to enjoy.

We are all craftsmen for the Lord. He gave us the gifts so that we would use them to emphasize his glory. It is time to leave the nonsense behind and use the talent we have been given to make the world around us a better place.

 

1 Peter 4:10

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

 

Romans 12:6

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.