Hog and body maintenance

Took my Harley in for service today. Had the 10k service done. Hard to believe I've ridden that many miles in the year I've had it. Wonder how many miles I'd put on it if I lived someplace other than the soggy Pacific Northwest?

Anyway, the shop has an area set aside as a customer lounge with TV, Wi-Fi and other assorted distractions. Since it wasn't actively raining, I took the opportunity to put some miles on my boots and wandered off. Now granted, this wasn't exactly a workout, but the point I'm trying to make is that opportunities for exercise exist all around if we'd simply pay attention and take advantage of them.

Do you cruise around the mall parking lot looking for a spot close to the door? Doing so not only increases the chance of door dings it typically makes it harder to get out of the parking lot. And, you miss the opportunity to get a little additional exercise walking. How could the short distance difference matter, you ask? A single instance wouldn't matter but consistently parking further away from the entrance has a cumulative effect. It's the same thing with your diet. Is one dish of ice cream going to add poundage to your person? Not really. But a dish every night for a month sure will.

Make it a point to move your body every day. Look for opportunities to add movement to your day. Do that each and every day for a year. Keep track in a log if that helps. Next Christmas you'll look and feel like a whole different person.

Check out some of the links on the right like Body by God, Matt Furey and Dr. Mercola for more info.

Oh, and the Hog is purring nicely. Or should I say, thundering nicely?

Survived another one

Christmas is over. Finally. It's not that I don't like this time of year. It's just that it's typically the most difficult for me emotionally. I start struggling with depression as the days get shorter. My exercise routines get further apart and less intense. My eating habits deteriorate. I withdraw emotionally. Quite simply, I experience a sort of meltdown.

Add all of that to the insanity of the hyper-commercialism Christmas in America has become and I go into survival mode around Thanksgiving. I can't wait for Christmas to be over. My mantra becomes, "You can do this, you can get through it. Once you're on the other side life will seem worth living again."

I also dislike how disappointed I am in people during this season of "brotherly love". The pressure to outdo oneself from last year or to upstage one's friends and family seems to reduce people to a snarling pack of mutts. The selfishness is astonishing. Most seem to think that by giving another person a material object somehow makes up for being a (fill in the blank) during the rest of the year.

In spite of all of the above, I love the spirit of the season and relish the eternal gift it represents. I am especially astonished during Christmas at the love God shows us, and am humbled by the reminder that I should be more forgiving and loving myself. My hope and prayer for the new year is that I can learn to forgive myself and look upon myself with kind eyes, as Dr. Maxwell Maltz has said. That way I can forgive others and look upon them with kind eyes since my filter will be clean.

Maybe that's why I have such a hard time with the season. If I enjoyed it more, perhaps I wouldn't be reminded of how lacking I am in the brotherly love catagory.

God, Dogs and Hummingbirds

The article reproduced below was taken from The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional. It's probably not exactly what one would expect on a site dedicated to personal development, but consider it as an exercise in developing the spiritual aspect of your life.

This article reminds me of something I recently read about understanding God. The author said that one way to try and understand evil in the world is to see that God is to a man as a man is to a dog. The dog doesn't understand that the trip to the vet and the ensuing prodding, poking and sometimes even pain are necessary and designed for its benefit. In the same way, we often don't understand why "bad" things happen to us or those we love.

The author was using the above example as a means of describing how the atheist presumes the ability to know the mind of God, i.e., since there is evil in the world God either does not exist or is not omnipotent. Since we can't know the mind of God it is surely the height of arrogance to place such restrictions on the concept.

Maybe the existence of pain and evil are a consequence of God doing what needs doing. Collateral damage, if you will. Much like the beetle that gets stepped on as we rush to succor a child that has fallen at the play ground.

Perhaps we should learn to emulate the dog's trust. Life would probably seem much less stressful, wouldn't it?
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From The Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional April 12, 2005

Down and Out in My Dining Room by John Fischer

I had a hummingbird trapped in my dining room today. I cranked the windows wide open and waited for the bird to fly out but nothing doing. I even tried to shoo it out waving my arms but that didn’t work either.
The problem was, every time the bird would try and fly, its instincts told it to fly upwards, so it would skate all over the ceiling, buzzing its wings furiously against it, chirping all the way until it would tire and come to rest on the curtain over the window or the light fixture. I left it alone for a while to see if it would eventually discover the open windows, but each time it took off to fly, it flew upwards and skated on the ceiling like before. It was frustrating — almost tragic — to watch it sit over the open window, catching its breath, oblivious to the fact that freedom lay only a few inches below. I finally succeeded in freeing it by literally sweeping the hummingbird off the ceiling with a broom. It took a number of tries, and it hit the window on the way out, but it flew off unharmed.
All the while I was doing this, I was trying to imagine what it would be like if I were that bird. I am aware that I am trapped, and I am trying to free myself the only way I know how, when this very large figure comes after me. I have absolutely no way of knowing that this giant thing, swatting at me with a broom, wants what is best for me; indeed, he is the only one who can set me free. And then this creature sweeps me off the ceiling and slams me into this invisible barrier, and it is only then, in my attempt to recover from that trauma, that I find I am suddenly free.
Is this not what happens to us with God? He throws some pretty scary stuff at us, and it’s hard to believe He has our best interests at heart. He may even be telling us to fly down, but we don’t hear Him, so He brings something into our lives that forces us down, and only then do we find that down was the way out.
What we have that the bird doesn’t have is a word from God that He is in control. Everything happening to us is happening for a purpose and we will see it someday, but in the meantime, it is for us to trust, and take what He sends our way as coming from His hand.
We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:9)
John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.

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© 2005 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.

Happy Resurrection Day!

Today, Easter, Christians around the globe celebrate what they believe to be the definitive event in world history; the resurrection of Jesus the Christ (anointed One). Many scoff at this notion yet it is certainly what sets Christianity apart from other religions, organized or not.

The idea that the God of the universe determined that His own Son should take upon himself the sins of the world and serve as the sacrificial lamb is astonishing. The fact that Jesus would do this voluntarily with full knowledge of what it entailed is mind boggling. I think that Mr. Gibson did a wonderful job of communicating this aspect during the Garden of Gethsemane scenes in his film "The Passion of The Christ". (Viewing this DVD has become my new Easter tradition). The final images of the empty burial linens (what many believe to be the Shroud of Turin) and the hole in Jesus' hand emphasize the renewing aspect of Christianity.

This key tenet of Christianity, the renewing of one's spirit, can be found in most philosophies and is at the core of personal development. It's a truth that we tend to accept without question as there is ample evidence in everything we see in nature. Spring is an abundant example of this renewal yet everyone knows that a scraped knuckle on one's hand will heal, that is renew, regardless of the season.

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit provides the energizing force for renewal, growth and life itself. Self-help gurus provide instruction on tapping into the "universal energy", or what Asian practitioners refer to chi, and the Holy Spirit is, I believe, what they are referring to. It's not my place to insist that everyone acknowledge this universal energy as the Holy Spirit. What is important is that one recognize its existence and acknowledge that there is a power outside of themselves that can be tapped into.

The three main aspects of human life, intellectual/material/spiritual (or mind/body/spirit), are at the core of personal development. (These three aspects are also embodied in the Christian Trinity). Each of the three components must be utilized to develop each of the three components.

Intellectual pursuits in and of themselves do not enhance our spirit or material state. What is learned intellectually must be applied and acted upon (material) to see results. These results produce belief (spiritual) which should further stimulate the mind, etc.

Reading or listening to personal development information can stimulate one to exercise or follow a healthy diet. Exercise and/or a healthy diet can stimulate one to experience an increase in chi. An increase in chi can stimulate one to seek additional intellectual stimulation. Ad infinitum.

The key is balance.

Genesis

The initial posting to this, my initial blog, was supposed to be pithy and substantial. Instead it appears that it will be merely, well, short.

The intent of this blog is to provide tools and resources for personal development including information on fitness and nutrition.

This blog, which I hope to soon expand to a real website on my own domain, has been made possible by the generosity of an honorable man, John Holland of JH Studios.

I'd been using the acronym JABDIP for years to refer to a state of mind (more on that later). When I finally got around to checking into a domain name, I discovered that it had been registered by Mr. Holland about a month earlier. He was willing to sell the domain for an amount that was way beyond my ability to accommodate. I explained my situation and made what I hoped was not an offensive offer for the domain.

Needless to say, I was very disappointed and berated myself mercilessly for allowing my tendency to procrastinate to cause me to lose the domain. I had resigned myself to finding a new name for my domain when Mr. Holland responded. We traded emails for a few days with him explaining his situation and me explaining mine. I was happy that he was planning to use the site for a good cause (sharing the beauty of the Tampa Bay area) and hoped that he would be open to helping me design a decent site when I get ready.

His surprising acceptance of my offer to purchase the domain name caused me a great deal of delight. If you find yourself in need of web design or any of the other services Mr. Holland offers, please give him a look.

And so I begin. . . .