Rick Warren, one of my all-time favorite authors and speakers, has a way with words and memorable phrases.  They aren’t just entertaining either; they’re very useful and life-changing in spiritual matters.

Here are some of my favorite phrases he uses: Of himself, he says, “Yes, I’m an addict–I’m addicted to changed lives!” I love that one,  because it describes me too.  I write these blogs and do all the speaking I do not because Body for Life, especially the spiritual aspect of it, has done so much for me and for others as well, and seeing others “get it” really does give me a rush! If you have to have an addiction, what more could you ask for than being addicted to helping others change their lives for the better?

Here’s another “Warrenism.”  “Resentment is the result of what others have done to you; guilt is the result of what you’ve done to others. We are not made to live with guilt or resentment,  because we were made to treat others and be treated by others with respect and good intentions.” [this is actually a paraphrase of a much longer talk on the topic.]  I love this saying, because  guilt and resentment cause more problems than all other human emotions put together–except fear. Guilt causes physical and mental deterioration, hiding and low self-esteem. It often leads to alcoholism or other chemical abuse. Resentment has exactly the same effects. Every twelve step or similar recovery program in the country recognizes these facts by steps that require people to deal quickly and thoroughly with guilt and resentment so that the cycle of dependency can be broken.  What I love about Warren’s statement is that he nails the reason that guilt and resentment harm us so much–we were not designed to treat or be treating cruelly. That’s just not the fuel we should run on.

One more: “Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. …You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, which is ‘my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.”

I don’t think I even need to tell you why I love that quote so much. Simply, it directs us to the solution and directs us away from self-centeredness or self-pity.

I hope you enjoyed these. More importantly, I hope you remember them and put them into practice. They’ll help you love others, love God, and love yourself appropriately–which is the true secret of the good life!

For Fitness Fanatics who crave a site that uses real names instead of names like “Hippy Pickle” and for people who want to be able to talk about their faith and hope with others, there is something “new” yet old that is ready for you now!  Just go to http://bflspirit.com/ and you can get started with the completely revived and reworked website that is the successor to the Torch. It will let you do anything you can do on any of the other sites, pictures, blogs, a database for your challenge, and you’ll enjoy the experience.

Plus, you will not find Hippy Pickle on there and have to run the risk of figuring out whether you’re communicating with a man or a woman or a sociopath!  Come see us! I am a regular blogger there, and there are several other writers you can read as well in case you’re getting sick of my blabber!

God Bless!

Without singling out anyone, I want to discuss the occasional posts on the guestbook that make it sound like the primary goal of a person’s challenge is to “show” someone how well the person can do. It generally revolves around the rather obstructive attitude of a spouse, significant other, former significant other, or a friend, and the goal is generally to get a good result and then push that into the face of the other person!

Well, I would just say that revenge, or even just plain old resentment, makes pretty lousy fuel to power a good challenge. I say this with some experience, because until I recovered from chronic alcoholism, my life pretty much consisted of living on alcohol, anger, resentment, envy, and the ultimate emotion that these produce–SELF PITY! I learned that no resentment is worth keeping, and that I simply couldn’t afford the luxury of carrying it around with me. Most importantly, I learned that I was getting something out of being resentful, though I certainly wasn’t consciously aware of it at the time.

The worst thing that resentment does is to turn over to another person the power to make you happy, sad or angry. The end product of all that frustration, unhappiness and dissatisfaction is to produce self pity and depression.

So, the heck of it is that you can really get going on a good challenge, to stuff it in someone’s face, but ultimately you’re going to be so unhappy that being fit is going to seem pretty much nothing at all.

It is far better to forgive the offense of the other and to spare all the agony–or better yet–overlook the offense and not even get angry. How do you do that? By treating them just as you would if they were completely supportive of you. By giving them the save attention, love and services you would under ideal conditions. This might not change them, but it will change you. It will FREE YOU to be the person you want to be, the person God wants you to be. Forgiveness is critical, to YOU, not them.

This is the toughest blog I’ve ever written. Millie the wonder dog, my 13 year old Brittany Spaniel, died last evening, July 10 2009 at home in Okemos Michigan. This is her “obituary.”

Millie Ruth Harris, a pure bred Brittany Spaniel, was born on April 24 1996 in Wichita Kansas. She was to be my son Eric’s hunting dog. Eric and my wife Ruth picked out Millie because she was “so cute and lively and kept running away from the other puppies of the litter!” How appropriate would those words turn out to be.

Millie soon left Kansas, where the bird hunting was plentiful, when we moved to Michigan in March 1997. She was there to keep my wife company while I was working and before we had made any real friends. It was while walking Millie that Ruth met one of her fast friends. In reality, though, you didn’t walk Millie–she walked you! She was so strong and so headstrong that she literally pulled on the leash all the way, glancing back with a look that said, “get the lead out–c’mon!”

That’s how the running thing got started. When I became interested in getting fit and needed to run as part of my regular cardio, no one wanted to run with me–except Millie! She was always ready, and she would literally drag me the entire two miles. Every day we would be out there, rain or shine, summer or winter.  Running with her in winter was perilous. More than once she pulled me right through a stop sign on icy streets with cars coming at us! Her winter specialty, though, was to run down by the river, run off the roadway and dive into a bunch of raspberry bushes that usually held rabbits and thorns of course. She would get hopelessly tangled up in the leash and the bushes and I’d have to go extract her!

Her other regular specialty was running away. She had a way of winning your confidence and lulling you into the notion that she’d stay in the yard while you were gardening or lying in the sun. And somehow in a moment she would be gone! We live in a village, but our home is right on the edge of a large wooded area with the river, so  when she took off, you had almost no idea how to find her again. She never came back home either! But, she would always eventually show up at the home of Ruth’s friend, the one she met while walking Millie.

In the last year Millie developed arthritis and was unable to run anymore. She took it much better than I did. I really missed her out there. Within the last few months she began to decline noticably and quickly. The vet tried what he could but said in a vettish way that she was just old and we should feed her well and keep her comfortable.

Though she was agitated and breathing heavily before she died naturally, she did not seem to suffer any pain or even any real  stress until just a couple of hours before she left us. She died right where she spent her spare time, sleeping on her side on her favorite pillow on our deck.

I’ve never been attached to an animal like Millie.  I miss her much already. I buried her this morning in the back yard area she loved.  This is hard!

PRINCIPLES TO TRANSFORM BY!
by: Michael Harris 7/2/2008
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1. Act your way to better thinking! In spite of opinion to the contrary, you cannot think your way into the right attitude, but taking the right actions will produce the right attitude. Do what you don’t feel like doing, and then you’ll feel like doing it!

2.When things look the worst, that’s the best time to begin a transformation! Popular opinion to the contrary, self-hatred may be the best chance you have to make a winner of yourself. It’s the good in you that hates the bad, and you have to talk to the good, feed it and grow it, and kill off all the bad. If you were all bad, you’d hate others rather than yourself!

3. To be successful, act successful! Successful people get up early, show up regularly, ready to play, and in uniform! They also keep their promises to themselves and others, even when it hurts! Your reputation is your only stock in trade, and your inner transformation is only as good as your reputation. You cannot sell it if you do not have it!

4. See that reflection in the mirror? You are looking at the problem!There is a world of difference between a condition and a problem. If it’s something you cannot control, you don’t have a problem, you have a condition. Though you cannot change it, you can change your perspective and view of it. The one problem you can for sure work on is you! Accept what you cannot change and change what you can—know the difference!

5. Just like your body, your spirit needs regular exercise as well! A. Deep knee bends—at prayer time. B. Stooping, to help another who cannot help himself.C. Reading the scripture or other sacred writings. Memorize a key thought each week.

6. The biggest impediments to a transformation, fear, resentment, envy and self-pity. Fear will paralyze you; force you to withdraw from your activity, and eventually drive you into hiding and depression. Action in the face of fear is the cure. Resentment will corrode you spiritually and emotionally from the inside out. Nothing worth doing can be accomplished in the face of resentment. Forgiveness is the only option. Envy will keep you from celebrating the achievements of others, and make you bitter, and self-pity will keep you in hiding forever!

7. Transforming is a risky enterprise! No risk, no gain!  There is significant risk in every transformation, risk of injury, embarrassment, failure or problems with relationships. A transformation challenge without risk is not worth doing. You can do more than you think you can! Your risk will be rewarded if you work as hard as you can!

8. Doing a couple’s challenge? Know your partner! A couple’s challenge will stretch, stress and test your relationship like nothing else. To make it rewarding, remember this:
A. A woman’s deepest needs are unconditional love and security. Without them, she is NOT happy! Unconditional love is to be given, and is not earned! “quit whining” is not love language!
B. A man’s deepest need is respect. Respect is unconditional and is not earned. Letting a man know through word or deed that you believe he is deficient in some material way, in strength, knowledge or passion, will wound him far more than you can imagine. Comparing his results to another man who looks better is also not a good idea.

9. Self-promotion never achieves worthy goals! Self-promotion always leads to frustration and disappointment. No amount of success or adulation is ever enough for the self-promoted person. Why then do we take those photos and do those essays? So that others will know, and will have assurance that you did what you said you did and that they too can do it.

10. The greatest thing a champion can do–leave a legacy!
A. If all you leave behind when you’re done is a leather jacket and a trophy, you have wasted your time and missed the whole point!
B. To leave a legacy, look within your spheres of influence (family, organizations or work) and find people who will do what you did, and will pass it on to others. Will your family emulate you or mock you in the end? It depends on YOU!

After the Challenge–What Then?
by: Michael Harris  3/19/2007

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So, your results were good, and you’re looking forward to living a “normal life” now. Only one thing is bothering you–you’re not sure what that is going to look like. You are also more than a little worried about your ability to hold onto this newfound you, right?

First, the “good news.” It never takes as much effort and suffering to maintain good health as it does to get it back. You won’t have to work out quite as hard, nor will you have to eat quite as strictly to maintain your physique. Now, the bad news–you’ll have to figure out how to do it on your own!

Continuing to eat the six smaller meals a day helps make your new life easier. Since the whole purpose of eating six small meals a day is to stabilize insulin levels and blood sugar levels, which minimizes cravings, mood swings, and fat formation, it makes sense to keep that up. If you lost weight and burned fat while on the six small meals regimen, and you are now at or below the weight you want to be, then you’ll need to add a bit to each meal. Eating 42 meals a week, you really only need to adjust upward about 50 to 100 calories to stop the weight loss cycle. As an example, if your “meal” is a Myoplex, all you would need to do is add about 3/4 of a tablespoon of flaxseed oil to the shake and you would add about 100 calories to that meal. Just an ounce more meat or a slightly larger carb would accomplish the same things. So, whatever you do, don’t go back to eating plates full of food at each opportunity. Make very small dietary adjustments, or you’ll be trying to catch up with the gigantic swings that can take place!

You’ll know when you get there with the diet. It will feel right. The key is to still stay away from the “trigger foods” that cause you issues, and to allow for the usual free day excesses as well. Sugary snacks should probably always be strictly a free day activity for all of us.

And what about exercise? Once again, you’ll need to find your plateau. I am sixty now, so I recover more slowly than most of you would. So, what I do in maintenance stage is work each body part every 6 or 7 days, and that takes about 30 to 40 minutes four days a week. Now, that means an extra workout day a week, but that’s not a problem since I work out at home. For me, working out each muscle group one day a week nicely maintains both mass and injury-free joints if I’m careful. I really don’t think anyone who is happy with their body needs to work out with weights more than a couple of hours a week, but if you enjoy it, and you still want to try to add mass, go for it! As far as cardio, I still do the 3 HIIT sessions a week, early in the morning on an empty stomach, and that will never change.

May I emphasize once again, because this does take trial and error, that the key is “small adjustments” so you don’t have huge swings. You will know that things are basically staying the way you want them by your weekly weigh ins and waist measurements, and if either gets more than 3 pounds or 1/2 inch out of where you want it, then make those adjustments and see what happens next week. Get your checkup regularly and keep tabs on those blood lipid levels.

Don’t let the maintenace phase get you down. It’s no different than owning and operating an auto. Checking the tires, the fluid levels and the operating systems are part of that responsbility, as are the same kinds of things with your body. This IS Body for LIFE, remember?

Getting the Most out of Your Time Between Transformation Challenges
by: Michael Harris  3/18/2007

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Are you planning another challenge after finishing the one you’re in now? If so, the material that follows should be of some interest and some help to you. It seems like roughly one-half of those who start and complete a 12 week transformation challenge are planning on going into another one in order to get into the shape that they want.

The first thing I want to ask you–actually I’m begging you–is to NOT GO IMMEDIATELY from one challenge right into the next one without a break. Here’s why. Whether you really feel like it or not, a transformation challenge takes a toll on you. The early rising, strenuous exercising and relatively strict dieting are good for you–but over 12 weeks time they can also wear you out. You deserve AND NEED a week or more of rest before you get back into the gym. Think about this: If you go right from one challenge to another, what you’re really doing is taking a 24 week challenge. That’s nearly 6 months, and it’s longer than most should be doing. Most second and subsequent challenges that occur without a break between tend to be very unproductive and unhappy experiences. They also tend to be more often plagued by injuries, illnesses and overtraining effects.

My favorite fitness author, Albuquerque attorney Clarence Bass, coined the phrase “active rest.” That’s what you need to do between challenges. What you need to do, for at least one week and preferably two, is to stay clear out of the gym and away from the weight lifting routine entirely. And don’t worry about losing muscle mass, you won’t. The phenomenon called muscle memory will put you right back into the groove very quickly once you are rested. In fact, you might actually pick up some muscle mass due to the well-deserved rest. Your joints will thank you for it too.

Instead of lifting weights, do one or two of your favorite non-resistance training types of exercises. I do lots of calisthenics such as pushups, pullups, and squat jumps. I also do some bike riding or stair climbing. I take very long walks with my dog. Others enjoy things like swimming, mountain climbing, hiking, or even chopping wood and heavy gardening activity. This gets you out of the old groove, works different areas of your body, and still gives you plenty of fat-burning and fitness forming activity.

As for the diet, stick with the six meals a day. But, add in a bit of red meat if you are inclined, and experiment with some non-typical foods. This might be a good time to try a little of that natural peanut butter you’ve been craving. I eat a fair amount of non-tropical fruits and berries as carb portions during my rest periods. And I eat some lean red meat which has lots of creatine in it. Don’t make your two weeks off a two week free day or you’ll regret it.

Consider your two weeks active rest a working vacation. You’ll be amazed at your renewed strength, your enthusiastic outlook, and your youthful appearance following your time off. If you don’t do it, you’ll feel like you’re dragging a 100 pound anchor around with you for the next twelve weeks. Which one sounds like the best bet to you?

THE UNRECOGNIZABLE BODY FOR LIFE ROUTINE!Tweaks are a common occurrence and usually a common cause for discussion on this forum. Over and over, it is debated whether the “latest and greatest” science is the way to go, rather than that which is in a book from 10 years ago. The debate rages both in the areas of exercise and diet. The most common “tweaks” are to add cardiovascular activity, or to work abs every day or every other day, or to work out each group of muscles every other day. In each one of these cases, the trainee lacks faith that the program as outlined in the book will produce the results they desire as quickly as they desire them to occur. Once the tweaks start, especially if there are several of them, the program becomes less and less recognizable as body for life. Someone doing daily cardio, working abs every day, eating a low carb diet, and also trying to work in some other routine such as kick-boxing, or jazzercise, or P90X is spending most of their spare time doing exercise routine after exercise routine. Eventually, it gets down to the point that about the only thing they share with the original routine in the book is that they still say they are “doing body for life.” The book has simply become the impetus for all this activity rather than the template for it. Is this bad? Is this good? I think it all depends on the trainee. For me, exercise and diet are a means to an end. They take up little of my time, only about 4 hours for exercise, and very little time for food prep, and they allow me to enjoy life. Not that I don’t like working out–I do–but certainly I’d rather be doing other things most of the time. So, body for life really works for me best if I do it by the book. For those who desire to spend much of their times in a gym, or pounding the streets in running shoes, or bouncing around a kick-boxing class, good for you! But, I came to body for life because it is efficient; it’s good science; and it really works. I’ve stayed with body for life because it’s efficient; it’s good science; it really works; and it has transformed me both outside and inside as well. It has enabled me to become a better person, to enjoy life more, and to prioritize my life in a way that works best. So, when I think about tweaks, I think, “why mess up a perfect system?” And I don’t!

Here is a rerun of a blog I did for the Body For Life website, in late May 2007.  It is right where I am today, coming back again and again to the basics of this program. So, I thought I would share it with you readers!

The Simplest Program There Is!
by: Michael Harris  5/30/2007

Body for Life, it has long been said, is a simple program, but not easy. The only way it gets complicated is if YOU complicate it. Most “tweaks” to the Body for Life program, in order to try to speed up its results, or to exceed its results, are futile in the end. Most people don’ tweak the diet, but many of those who fail do cheat at it. Most tweaks are to the exercise program. Here’s why you shouldn’t even think seriously about tweaking it during your twelve weeks.

First of all, while it is a one size fits all program, it does work perfectly for everyone who has not dieted and exercised regularly within the last year. That is because if you are that deconditioned and that far off from normal eating, virtually any organized activity that causes you to work at or near your maximum ability in lifting or in cardio activity will produce an adaptive response by causing muscles to grow, and burning fat in the case of cardio. So, since the program really is optimal for about 95% of those who need to use it, there is no reason to suppose that you are someone or something special and therefore need to “tweak” it. It works just as designed, with three heavy workout sessions per week, alternating between upper and lower body workouts, interspersed with three high intensity cardio sessions twenty minutes long. Assuming you will switch to different exercises every 4 weeks or so during the 12 weeks, you should continue to improve both in the amount of weight you can lift, and in the changes to your physical composition.

This program as outlined above works perfectly because it provides a great opportunity to grow lean muscle which raises the resting metabolic rate, because muscle burns calories even at rest. It works perfectly because if followed correctly the diet provides the right amounts of quality proteins and low glycemic carbs, along with small amounts of good fats, so that it is possible to actually grow muscle mass while at the same time burning fat and losing scale pounds.

Further, the changes in body composition along with the body becoming accustomed to eating and using the right foods, cause the body to leave its status as a weak,flabby, fat storing and sugar-craving machine, and to become a strong, lean and healthy, fat and sugar burning machine instead. The way your body uses the food you eat will completely change if you do this right.

In the end, you will have a completely different and more productive body composition that will allow you to eat more than you used to, and yet continue to stay lean and even grown leaner. You will have a stronger immune system, a healthier attitude and outlook on life, and a desire to excel in all you do. Are these extravagant claims? Not really. They are exactly the results that most everyone who sticks it out will get some measure of in the end.

There are really only two ways you can lose while doing body for life. One is to just quit, or never get started. The other is to get so distracted, so desperate for change, that you are unable or unwilling to take the challenge from beginning to end as it is intended. No one can predict exactly how you will end up if you start modifying the BFL program, but certainly you place everything at risk by doing so. How? Well, mainly because you run the risk of an overtraining effect, which may cause you to get weak, to produce cortisol which reduces muscle mass, and even to get ill due to a compromised immune system. Don’t risk all this for such a small potential benefit. It’s just not worth it. Do the challenge as intended and as written. You won’t be sorry.

So simple, so profoundly effective, yet so difficult that it may well be the most challenging thing you’ve ever done! That’s Body for Life. What are you waiting for?

 

This blog is actually just a guestbook post I wrote recently on the Body for Life guestbook.   Its purpose was to inform others that anyone can do a championship level challenge, but that sudden enthusiasm or a quick attempt to catch up on missed opportunities is not going to work.

Whenever anyone does an excellent job, like [name removed] just did, everyone wants to know what they did “differently,” meaning how did they “tweak” the program. The inference is that because someone did it better than most of us, they must have some big secret to getting better results than the rest.

However, the 12 years of history of this challenge demonstrate rather clearly that there really is NO SECRET for an excellent challenge, and that the results are achieved by those who work harder, diet more strictly, and do not delude themselves and others into thinking that they are doing this “to the T” when in fact they are on cruise control instead of in a race. No amount of inspiration or excitement will last for long enough to produce results. Extra cardio, fat burners, trendy gym memberships, and all of those kinds of things might help just a little bit, for a very short while, but there is simply no substitute for rugged, gut-busting workouts, and for gritty determination when the going gets really tough. Doing a terrific transformation in just twelve weeks is simple–but it’s certainly not easy–and often it’s not even pleasant. It’s key to stay focused, to stay prepared, and to stay on task.

And the only way that will really work is to make the challenge the number one priority in your life for the next twelve weeks. Those of us who spend the 12 weeks bickering with family about our diets or our workout times, or who spend time telling themselves they are doing everything they are supposed to, while they are grabbing little nibbles out of the snack bowls at work, are really just wasting their time. This actually takes dedication that most people will not muster. We are ALL capable of it, but few are willing to put themselves through what it takes to excel. Stay strong, stay steady, and stay focused, and you’ll do fine. But if you try to stay enthusiastic for the entire twelve weeks, or you look for some instant miracle here, you’ll be joining soon the ranks of those who just thought this would be easy, and found out otherwise.

Just so you know, I’m not talking about ANYONE on the guestbook as I make all these comparisons between others and champions. I’m just drawing on my 7 years on the guestbook, and my own experiences in doing challenges prior to my championship challenge in 2006. So, don’t get paranoid and think that somehow I’m talking about a certain person. The problems that keep us from achieving a good challenge are just the problems that most of us who live disorganized and uninspiring lives pick up along the way. The cures for them are just hard work, focus and commitment.

 BEFORE YOU EAT THAT JUNK!!

Go through this little checklist that those of us who are prone to addictive behavior often use in order to avoid doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason:

1. Hungry? Am I truly hungry, or is this a craving ignited by something as simple as a whiff of good food being prepared?

2. Angry? Am I upset about something or with someone to the point that I just want to eat over it?

3. Lonely? Am I missing someone or something out of my routine, or grieving subconsciously over a recent loss, and could that be why I think I need that “comfort food?”

5. Tired? Did I miss some sleep last night, or am I overtraining, or have I been really stressed at work? Often, fatigue sets up exactly the same signals to the brain that hunger does. But, sleep or rest is NOT FATTENING!

To help you remember the checklist, it is H.A.L.T., for hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Make sure you are really hungry before you make that decision that might well set off a firestorm of destructive eating and other destructive behavior. Even just going through the checklist might buy you enough time to avoid something really dumb

The days of Barney Fyfe are long gone and law enforcement, military, and para-military people are professional to the core. So, it’s hard to imagine even that a conversation like this could occur between law enforcement officers: “Hey Jim, would you mind swinging by my apartment before we answer that call? I just realized I forgot to bring my gun with me!” Or, you could simply substitute for “gun”  the words “bulletproof vest” or “protective headgear” depending on the nature of the mission. The point is, professional people bring with them and have with them at all times the equipment they need to complete their mission. They do that by donning or securing the equipment they will need for each day in a systematic fashion, utilizing a checklist or a visual inspection method that prevents any oversight that could be fatal!

So, even though that mythical conversation above probably never happens between LEOs, something similar far too often takes place between we transformers and ourselves. It usually goes like this: “uh-oh, I forgot my food–again!” Or, “wait a minute! I’m sure I put that workout journal in my bag–didn’t I?” Or even, “Darn it! When I said I was going to do my cardio tonight I forgot all about that evening group meeting.”

The end result of this kind of behavior, particularly if it is repetitive, is destructive. What it does is to impair self-confidence, which is one of the keys to making a good transformation. It also, of course, can impair results overall if it becomes a habitual problem, but even just a two or three times a week occurrence of one or more of these common lapses can really distract a transformer and rob confidence to the point that it really becomes a problem. Only one thing is worse, and that is habitually and intentionally cheating on the diet.

Preparation and follow through is key in the spiritual formation portion of a transformation as well. Most Christians are quite familiar with Paul’s famous passage to the Ephesians, at chapter 6, where he exhorts them to “put on the full armor of God,” and names each and every weapon or shield that they need to take up in order to do battle with the enemy. 

So, whether the “enemy” is you and your disorganized efforts at preparation, or it is some outside force, the key to winning the battle is to use a checklist, daily, to prioritize all your transformation efforts and protect them from outside interference, and to follow through cheerfully and relentlessly. In the end, if you do that, the victory will be yours. But, if you show up for the big game and you’re not even in uniform, I’m afraid the outcome has already been determined.  

Discipline of the mind, body and spirit–the key to a real and lasting transformation!

When Will It Ever End???

What did you think when you read the title of this blog–that I was going to be complaining about some form of torture or a deep problem I was experiencing? Well, actually, I am thinking about something very good that is happening right now, and wondering when it will end!

The very good that is happening right now is that I am fully employed, in a job that I absolutely love, in the most beautiful State in the country, at the most beautiful time of the year. We and the rest of our family are in good health, and all seems well for me and everyone I know. Yet, I also know from years of experience that in an instant things can change for ourselves and others as well.

I was in one of those almost euphoric states back about this time in 2003. As I was moving a heavy piece of furniture up the stairs I felt a “giveaway” sensation in my low back, but didn’t think much about it. Within literally just a couple of weeks I was unable to walk, and was taken to surgery to deal with a monstrous in size disc that had ruptured in my low back. From a healthy, happy and strong person, in just weeks I was in constant burning pain and agony and unable to exercise or do much of anything for weeks and even months. Today, that all seems like it never happened, almost like it was someone else who went through it.

What I felt at that time was an almost tragic thing that would change my life for worse has instead turned out to be a blessing. I so much more appreciate the ability to exercise, run, ride my bikes, ride for long distances in cars and many other things that I literally lost for a long time. When it happened, the whole episode seemed surreal and almost unendurable, but today I realize the great benefit of that suffering I went through.

I take nothing for granted these days, even my current state of good health. I see every day as a gift, and one that should be lived to the fullest because it will never come around again. Time is not saved–it is spent.

Today, or at least this weekend, take an opportunity to count your blessings–to thank God for them–and to look at what today you regard as the “bad things” happening to you. Ask for understanding that what seems like unendurable suffering or confusion might very well be tomorrow’s best medicine for you!