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When we consider the physical dimension of our lives we tend to compare ourselves with the fit, youthful bodies we see in ads and others. For most of us, this comparison will just discourage us and cause us to find excuses.
Too often, when talking with a mentoree about this dimension of life, excuses begin to creep into our minds. We think we’ve got to be stud athletes. We can’t afford a personal trainer. We don’t like broccoli. Illness can certainly take us down roads we didn’t plan on traveling. We don’t have time to do “the health thing.” Etc. Etc. Etc.
But these remarkable engines we call our bodies need as much care and attention as any of the other dimensions of our lives. If our bodies are not as healthy as they can be, it will impact the rest of who we are and what we do. No excuses.
I, at 72+, would invite you to be committed to being as healthy as you can possibly be with your own age and circumstances taken into consideration. I ask those I mentor to be committed to moving. Briskly. Daily.
I’ve accepted the FitBit challenge of walking at least 10,000 steps a day. That began with being committed to get a FitBit Flex to keep track of my steps. Doctors will tell you that people who daily move briskly, in six months will begin to notice feeling better. 10,000 steps, for me and my shorter legs is 4.5 miles. On a recent vacation day I even did 10.3. And lived to tell about it. So can you.
How do I do that? By making these five choices…every day.
Choice #1: I will choose to be healthy in the physical dimension for this day and all the rest of my days.
Too often we go on diets of some sort. And if someone goes on a diet, no doubt they will go off the diet at some point in the future.
What will it take for you to choose to be and do your best to live healthy in every part of your life.
Choice #2: I will be committed to wellness and consistent fitness in both mind and body.
My wife attends to her wellness differently than I do because of the consequences of some past health issues. I, an older man, attend to my fitness differently than the emerging younger leaders I mentor. But we all are committed to feeding both soul and body that which will result in the most health possible. You do know what I’m talking about here, I’m confident.
What will it take for you to be committed to feeding your mind and your body that which allows you to be fully alive in every dimension of your life?
Choice #3: I will be committed to doing daily what is required to gain rest for both body and soul.
Medical and emotional doctors will quickly tell us we are an over stressed, over worked, over anxious, over indulged, over weight society, for the most part. When I walk my 10,000 steps a day, if doing it alone, it is one of the best times to do inventory on my soul. I have some special places along a creek where I sometimes will stop in the middle of a walk to ponder, meditate, pray, off load what is stirring deep within me, attending to both the plus and minus emotions I may have that day.
The intentionality of that is crucial for both you and me. Without this choice being made often, it’s almost impossible to be a man or woman who is living intentionally, experiencing deep and continuous change, for one’s whole life that results in the transformation our souls are made for.
What will it take for you to choose to find the quiet that restores and releases you into the life you were uniquely designed to live?
Choice #4: I will only put into my body what is nutritious.
OK. Now you and I both know I’m meddling here. But the old adage that you are what you eat has truth to it. Just look at yourself in the mirror after you have bathed or showered.
Yes, chocolate is a food. But too much of anything can quickly be bad for you. Most people do not pay enough attention to what they put into their mouths. We slop it down fast. Belch it up a time or three like a cow chewing her cud. In minutes to hours we are feeling a craving because our bodies are telling us we have not put in the correct, nourishing food to satisfy our physical or emotional needs.
What will it take for you to stop making excuses about not eating nutritiously, and to bring you to choose wisely what will fuel you to the optimal levels of your personal design?
Choice #5: I will respect my healthy sexuality and that of others.
In this sexually charged world, how are you owning up to being the man or woman you were created to be? The enticements to be on less than our best behavior, the draw to experiment with this amazing gift of life we call sexuality, the fears that linger due to sexual disease, the carnage that comes from any form of sexual abuse…all these, and more, can be the downsides of being sexual creatures.
We were created male and female. We were magnificently created with the soul and brain power to know how to be responsible sexually. Sexual feelings are not evil or abnormal. However, culture, almost any culture, has over emphasized this gift to such an extent that almost anything goes these days, to the detriment of dishonoring what it means to be both male and female, created in God’s image, as the Holy Bible says.
What will it take for you to honor your own sexuality, and that of others, to be fully alive and responsible sexually?
Health, fitness, rest, nutrition, healthy sexuality…they are all part of living into and out of all we are designed to be. Let’s get moving!
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