They are just one letter apart, two of the most important words in the English language–”think” and “thank.”  From my perspective, most people do far too much of one, and not near enough of the other!

Trust me–I’m not an anti-intellectual! Believe it or not, I once ran a think tank in Lansing Michigan, an organization that produced radio programs, white papers for the legislature on public policy issues, and brought in speakers with experience in the esoteric issues we often dealt with. Yet, when it comes to self-improvement, I am not on the “let’s think about this” side of the argument at all! Here’s why.

When someone asks me a question about fitness and I answer it in terms of what they should implement to change their life, I’m often met with a “that’s really interesting–I’ll have to think about that a bit.”  Well, that is just a polite way of saying “I’m not going to do that in a 1000 years!” Most people simply use thinking as an excuse to avoid action, at least as far as self-improvement is concerned. And if it’s not about self-improvement, they use group think (meetings!) to avoid personal responsibility.  Mulling things over has become more popular these days than doing anything about it.

So, what about “thank?” Thankfulness is a mindset, an operating system for your life. Maintaining a thankful attitude means being focused not on self but on others. It means not figuring out what you can get, but calculating how much you can give–and then doing it!

Thankfulness of necessity comes hard. Few just naturally have thankful personalities.  Look at how little children behave. We all yearn for the day when it will become something other than just all about them! It is learned, but not necessarily taught. Usually, a truly thankful mindset comes as a gift from a deep and abiding faith in a power greater than ourselves.  A realization that we were created for a purpose, and that our purpose is giving, not getting, comes from realizing the great truth of the Golden Rule. The joy that comes from that practice is a gift to us, and that produces even more thankfulness and selflessness.

Body for Life has imbedded in it the way to a thankful heart. It is called the universal law of reciprocation in the book. Done simply, it is helping others without any expectation of a return. In my opinion only, the rule can be done perfectly by not only helping others without expectation, but helping others who don’t even have the ability to pay you back, and keeping your involvement in it absolutely anonymous. This will produce so much joy in your heart that you’ll absolutely feel like you need to tell someone before you burst!  And, if you’re a person of faith, you can tell God, and He will simply answer by giving you yet another opportunity to do good. Soon enough, you’re almost a full-time “do-gooder!”

So, how does this impact a body for life challenge?  Two ways. One, those with thankful hearts finish far more often than those who are “in it to win it.”  Selfishness is a self-defeating activity. And, two, you not only want to look better physically, but you want to end up better emotionally and spiritually, and nothing does that like an action-oriented thankful heart!