Think about sitting in your living room at home. As you are sitting there a stranger comes into your living room with a trash can full of all sorts of disgusting trash. They then commence to dump this trash all over your living room floor.
How would you feel?
What would you do?
I am sure most of us would be highly offended and throw the guy out or maybe something worse. This behavior is totally unacceptable. None of us could imagine anything like this ever happening. Zig Ziglar the motivational speaker constantly says, “You are where you are in life by what has gone into your mind and body. You can change where you are and what you are by changing what goes into your mind and body.”
You can always clean the living room floor and no one would even know of the incident. Unlike the living room floor, it is much more difficult to clean a life full of bad input. Each day we have many choices. We choose what foods we will eat, what books we read, what TV shows we watch. We decide to exercise or not. We may decide to go on the internet for hours a day.
In exercise physiology a muscle is either getting stronger or weaker. It never just stays the same. If you add a load over time the muscle responds and grows. If you don’t the muscle gets weaker and unable to respond to the demands you may need for it when you need it.
We have all heard that when you pick up one end of the stick you pick up the other end. If we decide to constantly have bad inputs in our lives we cannot choose an alternate outcome. A chronic smoker who decides to quit smoking when they are diagnosed with cancer will not be able to erase the damage that years of smoking have done. For 20 years the person may have seen nothing on the outside but inside cellular changes were happening silently.
Our choices of what we put into our minds and bodies have consequences and the longer we make bad choices the more difficult the task becomes to change. But as difficult as it may be, it can be done. If you are involved in bad choices stop them. You ultimately choose how you are going to live your life. Decide now to put better foods into your body. Decide now to exercise consistently. Decide now to put good input into your mind by choosing good books, quality TV and music that inspires you.
To have the quality of life we all want we need to address all aspects of life, the physical, mental, spiritual and social. Just like the muscle we neglect, those areas will be deficient if not properly exercised and fed. Notice what you are allowing to be the input of your daily life. If there is any “trash” being dumped in your mind or body clean it up and stop allowing it to happen.
The chronic “trash” that we allow to go into our minds and bodies will eventually catch up to us. You will notice that many of the bad habits we consistently fall back on are due to the inputs we allow to go in. Take time to decide how you want to live your life from this point on. What kind of father, husband, wife, mother, friend, son, daughter and person do you want to be?
Stephen Covey asks many who he teaches to imagine a situation five years from today. Imagine you are going to a funeral. As you get to the funeral you notice that it is you in the casket, it is your funeral. As you sit quietly in the back there are thee speakers, a family member, a friend and a co-worker. What would you want them to say about you? What kind of a son, daughter, husband, wife, father were you? What kind of a friend were you? What kind of a co-worker were you?
Now go ahead and write the eulogy for these people about you. If you do this exercise you will find out who you really aspire to be. Then go to work and begin to change any bad input you are allowing. Replace it with positive input. As you begin to notice what you are feeding your mind and body you will make better choices that will lead to a healthy and happy life.
I firmly believe that life is meant to be lived with passion, joy and happiness every day. Don’t wait any longer to decide to change. There is unseen damage that is going on silently the longer you wait. If we wait until it surfaces it might be too late.
This month’s success story is about Robin. I have known Robin for almost 20 years. Robin is sweet, kind, a heart of gold, and a wonderful mother. Robin came to the office with a burning desire to lose weight and get healthier. She is the ideal patient and has done everything we have asked her. I can’t tell you how proud we are of the dedication and drive Robin has shown. Robin has lost over 30 pounds and is well on her way to achieving her goal. The struggles of weight and the changing of daily habits is not easy, but Robin has proven that if you just DECIDE you are going to do something, it usually happens. I wish everyone would follow the way Robin has taken on the obstacle that has burdened her during her life. It takes courage, determination, and faith. Robin has shown all of these and I know she will reach her ultimate goal. Thank you Robin for inspiring all of us.
Remember whether you are just trying to lose that extra weight or get over chronic health issues, take time to attend one of our free seminars on Wednesday evenings. Register or call our office and we will save a spot for you. I am currently giving every one who attends a copy of my new book, “Improve the Quality of Your Life – Why Live in Pain?” We look forward to seeing you.
As we all tackle this week DECIDE to change some of the bad “inputs” you are currently allowing to happen. Instead of watching a meaningless T.V. program take time and talk with a child, spouse or loved one. Instead of eating that chocolate, substitute it for a piece of fruit. Instead of browsing the internet for hours on end, take a walk or go to the gym. You see so many times during the day we make choices and those very choices determine who we are today. If you are not satisfied with your life, you must change those daily choices you are making. It is not easy but it will all be worth it.
