com·mit·ment

“If it’s worth praying for, it’s worth owning” This is a philosophy I’ve adopted and implemented in my life, yet I can’t remember when I started feeling this way. I guess it’s like so many ideas that worm their way into our lives, molding and shaping us into the people we are at the present time. They come through, education, people, places, articles, books, social media and musings from day to day.

I believe that if an idea, an action, a future goal, etc. is worth giving voice, then whatever that idea, action, goal, etc. is worth taking ownership of or for. To me this is the essence of commitment. Webster’s Online Dictionary defines Commitment as:

a:
an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; especially : an engagement
to assume a financial obligation at a future date

b:
something pledged

c:
the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled

With this definition in mind, it doesn’t address that “life” causes commitments to change and mold, and I’m not really talking about that, I speaking more towards the attitude towards making that commitment in the first place, giving it voice and sending it out to a god, or the universe.

When I was in ministry I heard people say many prayers. They prayed for forgiveness, strength, wisdom, patience, budgets, building funds, youth trips, etc. I myself did exactly the same thing. Looking back, it didn’t seem like ownership was taken for these prayers in my life or theirs. I would pray for forgiveness, but wouldn’t take ownership of that forgiveness. I would continually pray for strength and deny ownership that I might indeed be strong. In Iraq I heard the prayer for protection, but saw actions based in fear, doubt, insecurity that plagued us all. I don’t think I need to go on, I’m sure you get the picture.

We ask, or pray for success, but aren’t we obligated to work towards that goal? We ask for health, doesn’t that mean we need to take ownership in being healthy? We ask for a lot of things, and in doing so we have made a commitment to those things. Ownership of our lives, our actions, our words and deeds is the fulfillment of our statements we make to the universe or to any god we choose to pray to. In the end, when you continually ask, or pray for something, doesn’t that say something about the commitment you are willing to put forth, keeping it in words, leaves it as it is, just words.

I’ll leave you with two quotes I hold dear:

‎"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." ~Harriet Tubman~

“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it.” ~Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe~

Note to self...

There are few things worse than being trapped in a spiral of self-defeating habits that gnaw you into compliance. Starting out small, they wormed their way into my daily life, slowly, unassumingly until they became a master and I, a slave. Substance abuse, over eating, cussing, laziness, depression, etc. are all activities I was not born with, but habits that have lead myself to this day.

"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." ~M. SCOTT PECK~

In my last four years of discomfort in who I was, what I was becoming, I started the hard task of change. In my continued journey of change, weight loss, husbandry, and parenthood I have come to the realization of certain behaviors, combinations of habits that I created, sustained, and knelt in servitude before are all my fault 100%.

First realization, nutrition is important. I always said to myself, it didn't matter what I ate. Hamburgers, fries, pizza, burrito's, pop, etc. are all just food, my body need food, right? Besides I workout, I'll just burn it off, ya know, tomorrow. When I took an honest look at what I eat, it was painfully obvious I was not getting the proper nutrition my body needs to be at it's optimal weight and health. When don't have the proper nutrition you're tired, and when you're tired you're cranky, and you might not even be aware of it but you are negatively effecting those around you. Your sleep is a direct reflection to your nutrition, you eat crap, you can't sleep worth a crap. There are so many things that seem to take care of themselves when you're putting in your mouth what your body needs, and not what your cravings need.

Second, exercise is important. When I was in the Army, fitness was something I worked at because I had to. It was drilled into me at basic, and my fitness was important for promotions, which is a strong motivator. When I ETS'd from the Army, I also ETS'd from my workout. This was a terrible mistake, but one I made nonetheless. I know now I quit because it was attached to a job. I worked out for the Army's sake, not for me. The hardest is making the time, consistently, to dedicate to exercise. I justified my laziness by telling myself it is a selfish activity that takes time away from my wife, my family, my friends and the activities we wanted to do after work.

Letting yourself go is selfish, to take on the habits of overeating, inactivity and laziness lead to depression and self loathing. What good am I as a husband, a father if I allow myself to develop clogged arteries, joint pain, type 2 diabetes, pulmonary dysfunction, etc, etc. how am I providing when my life span is reduced? You, me, owe it to those we love the most to get off our butt and fix the things that aren't genetic, don't die before you see your kids grow up just because you like beer and brauts, don't let your children inter their adult lives without your guidance and companionship because of a craving for jelly donuts and cheesburgers.

Third, change is important. I did not get to today all at once. I didn't get fat overnight, I didn't become depressed overnight, I didn't form any habit overnight. Change has to happen, there is no magic pill, no prayer, no life coach, trainer or doctor that can erase the lifetime of self destructive habits that everyone carry on their back in one night. Start small, small habits that can impact your health for the better. Change is inward, it can't be taught, it can't be coached, which makes it 100% your choice. You decide, you no one else.

Advocare is an awesome place to start, and has been for me. Through supplementation I now get the proper nutrition into my body which gives me balance, and balance has improved my attitude, my marriage and my life. Going through "Commit 2 Fit "- 8 healthy life habits in 8 weeks is a great plan to use to start creating a healthy lifestyle. Am I where I want to be, do I look the way I want to look, the answer is most definitely no. BUT, I made a change, started down the right path towards living, and isn't that what it's all about? Quality of life, it all takes time, you owe it to yourself and those you love to get right... if you need help, or encouragement, I am here.

"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing." ~ Brian Tracy~

... Musings ...

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." ~WILL DURANT~

I found it was hard for me to except "ignorance" in my own life. I always counted my self, if anything, not ignorant. But my pride, which has gone the way of the dodo, prevented me from seeing truth of my limited knowledge about most topics.

Facebook has been good to point out my short comings when debating others. I speak mostly on religious topics because that is my background, but I would dabble in evolution, abiogenesis and cosmology with an arrogance of higher learning which had no substance. It didn't take long for me to become a 'listener' to those kinds of debates not just a participant, eating a bunch of crow will do that to you. I quickly learned that my logic and critical thinking skills were lacking. It's with these new and growing skills that have sharpened my knowledge base, increasing it to a far more stable footing. After all in the book I studied for half of my life so far illustrates the point of ignorance passing on ignorance quite well, "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." ~Matthew 15:14~

Websters define's ignorance as : the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. Remember, it has nothing to do with ones ability to learn, or where they were educated, it only means there is a gap that needs to be filled. That was a hard pill for me to swallow but once it's down, it provides a challenge to increase my knowledge, education and awareness. I'm ignorant, about a great many things but what I do about it is the true test. I will say it again, I'm ignorant, but then again so are you, and everyone else. Take ignorance as the marker or litmus test for the need to improve, trust me, I'm a doctor... not really but it sounds good, so I will leave you with this quote,

"If the King's English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!" ~MA FERGUSON, Governor of Texas (circa 1920)~

~Just in case you don't get it, Jesus spoke Aramaic, Hebrew and maybe even Latin or Greek, not English.

Hope...?...

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "Hope" as a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.

We hope for the future, we hope for change in government, work status, wealth, and love. We hope for health and wellbeing for ourselves, our children, family and friends. We hope Gene Chizik doesn't screw up Auburn football, while Alabama fans hope that he does. We hope our kids will make the right decisions in life. We hope we make the right decisions concerning our spouses and kids. We hope we've done well on our projects, and exams or homework. We hope for a better life now, and a possible life after death. We hope we're doing it right, whatever "it" is. We hope, hope, hope and we hope a lot.

Now some things we hope for are really frivolous, but what about the things we hope for and have control over? When does "hope" become a crutch? Is it possible that hoping so much for something to change, prevents you from making that change. What if the opportunity to change your life is the path branching off beside you, but you miss it because your eyes are focused on the hope that the path you're currently on is going to bring about that very change?

Christopher Reeve once said "Once you choose hope, anything's possible." I think if you combine the words of Superman with something Walt Disney said, "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." you have a formula to make your hopes a reality and gain the fuel to sustain them for a lifetime.