If Ye Love Me...

While at Yellowstone we were walking around the boardwalk at Prismatic pool, there we saw someone had taken an object and written their name in the algae mats. They also wrote these words, "I love Yellowstone." I thought, how ironic. Then the thought came to me, "If ye love me keep my commandments." (John 14:15)

I wonder, how many of us know what that means? We say we love our Heavenly Father, but then we are quick to excuse our sins. Or we may just cherry-pick those commandments that we think are more important than others.


As a Latter-day Saint, it is like sustaining our leaders and then not SUSTAINING them when they ask us to help.

God has given us these commandments as a gift to help us be happy while living with our fellow man. To dismiss them is like giving your child a present only to have them set it aside without even opening it.

The only way we truly can know the power and wisdom of God is to test his wisdom through obedience. 

The Purpose Of Life Is To Learn

The purpose of life is to learn to think, do, and feel as God does. As children of God it is our natural order to become like our Father.

Life is a test. Life is a test where the teacher has stepped out of the room. The test is not so much to see if we know the answers, but to test our ability to learn the answers when we make mistakes. The only way to truly fail is to not learn.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)
We will never reach perfection in this life, but every step forward is a step closer to becoming who we are meant to be.

The older I get the more I see my dad in me. When I was younger I could not imagine getting as old as I am today. As a child of God it is hard for me to see ever becoming like him, but looking back I can see every experience I have, for good for for bad, I seem to feel more of what my Heavenly Father must feel. I am far from his level of perfection, but every once in awhile I can get a glimpse of what I can be.

As a parent and a child of God there are times when I do feel like the older child trying to help my younger siblings along. I believe that is what life is all about, and I do believe that was the plan. 

Back In The Saddle- Returning to A Previous Adventure

This past week I started my 2nd Biggest Loser contest. This time it is with my family. The stakes aren't so much monetary this time as we don't have money in on it, but a lot of pride is at stake. We are the friendly competitive type so we don't get offended when beaten, but we don't like to lose...Except when we want to lose, and then we want to be the Biggest Loser.

This week I reviewed the mental clicks that I had gained last time I started my journey. I have decided to see if my first experiment was just a fluke or if I can repeat the results. Obviously not everything will  be the same as I am starting off in better health despite the past year of being injury prone. I realize also that I can not rest on the idea that I will lose as much as I did last time, at least as quickly as I did last time.

No mirror needed to tell me
when I was happiest

We often equate losing weight with being happy and looking in the mirror as a measure of health. So, we look at the scale and pray for good numbers to appear, or we look into a mirror to determine whether or not we are healthy and happy. What would happen if we did not have a scale to determine our happiness. In fact what if we did not have a mirror to determine our health? What if the only thing we had to determine our happiness was our feelings and self awareness? What would we do to improve how we felt about ourselves?

To be perfectly honest with you, I like food. I like food that is probably not the most healthy food. If I could get away with eating lots of thick juicy steaks and just about anything heavy on the carbohydrates followed up with a nice big bowl of ice cream at any given time, and the only consequences were my weight. I would probably ignore my mirror and get rid of my scale. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

To me being fit has little to do with what I look like and a lot to do with my ability to move and how I feel. If I have a hard time walking up stairs or hiking in the summer, then I don't feel fit. If I am huffing and puffing when I want to run, then I am not happy. If I can't touch my toes without wincing or getting dizzy, I would say I am neither healthy nor happy.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice to feel good about what you see in the mirror, but it is more important that you feel good about what you have done to get where you are than it is to see a pretty picture in the mirror. You can be unfit and look thin and pretty, but you will not feel thin and you won't be happy.

Week 1 results

So, in my quest for fitness I will use a scale and a mirror as a measure of progress, but I will not use them as a measure of my fitness nor my happiness.

Feeling Guilt For Feeling Whole

Years ago I worked at International Luggage Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. One day I learned a powerful lesson when a man walked through our doors... He had no arms. He asked to see the garment bags. So I took him around the corner to where the garment bags were displayed. He asked if I minded him checking it out. As it was up on the wall, he asked me if I would take it down for him. I took it down and told him to go for it. He maneuvered the garment bag down to the ground and began to work the zippers.
I remember feeling somewhat awkward. I wanted so badly to help him open zippers and such, but something inside my head whispered, "Let him do it, he will have to do it on his own if he owns it."  So, I sat back and watched, waiting for him to ask for help...He never did. I can't even remember exactly how he was able to do all that he did, but I remember he did. When he was finished, he got up off the ground and with a slight quiver in his voice, he looked me in the eye and thanked me. He then proceeded to buy the garment bag.

I wasn't sure what to think of the incident. However, the look on his face told me that he appreciated that I did not judge him as incapable despite his obvious handicap. Unfortunately I am not sure that was a common feeling to him.

The lesson I learned was that I should not judge people for what I think they are incapable of. My own feelings were that I was superior because I was not handicapped. However, I have since realized that this man was far more superior, because he could do things without the advantages I had.

Sometimes we want to help others, and we think we are doing them a favor when in reality we are handicapping them. Sometimes we think we are superior, when we are not. Sometimes we carry within us some guilt for being whole, while we think that others are not, because of their gender, race, religion, mental capacity, or whatever makes them different from us. Sometimes this guilt is manifest in our being repulsed in our ignorance resulting in a prejudice and or discrimination. Other times it results in our being repulsed by our ignorance resulting in reverse discrimination. It isn't until we reconcile our guilt that we are able to treat all men equally.

Some learn to reconcile quickly, others take time, but either way it takes overcoming ignorance, either inwardly or outwardly. Each of us learns differently, but we all have to gain experience the same way... By doing something. Fear can either lead you to the darkness, or motivate you to find the light.

Reporting On Our 30 Day Experiment

Well, one of our boys has made it through the 30 day chart and is moving on to his second chart, by his own suggestion nonetheless. This time he wants to see a movie. I am not sure if it has as strong a pull as his Legos did, but his attitude has  changed so much and he recognizes how much better he feels as well. So, we are calling this experiment a complete success for our one boy.

Our second son has struggled, but he has improved so much that we can not say that it has failed him either. He fights it, but the chart forces him to think about where he is failing even if he doesn't like the change. It has caused us to have many conversations, but communication is good, even if it is frustrating most of the time, because it seems to be the same conversation over and over, but I have confidence that it is going to sink in and when he has his light bulb moment a huge weight is going to be lifted off of all our shoulders and we are going to sing Hallelujahs. He also wants to start a second chart so he can earn a backpack for his scouting.

His biggest problem is that he does not trust adults. I believe this stems from a rough early childhood. Both of our boys were adopted through the state. Our oldest was 18 months which is a very impressionable age. Because of his situation we believe that he went into survival mode. In survival mode his higher level thinking abilities were increased, but his emotional development was delayed. Not to mention his natural tendency to want to be older than he is.
Anyways that is for another post...maybe.

A couple of things we are finding along the way:
First, the key is once the terms are established then we have to become their biggest cheerleader. Motivation is important. Be more concerned about helping them change than punishing them for their bad behavior.

Another thing that I think is important is that we consider each child and their abilities. 30 days may work for us but 10 or 15 days may be better for younger kids, or a particularly hard challenge that our child is looking . Maybe even less to start with. The idea is not to punish them, but to help them change their behavior. Make it long enough to make them stretch, but not so long that they lose their motivation.

We have to look for opportunities to teach and communicate. We have to let them know we are not their to make them miserable. Sometimes it can get frustrating, but it is in communication that we find out either our message hasn't been clear or they really are not understanding what we are saying. We found out that sometimes our children seem to be learning from a different dictionary. The more we are able to talk the better we can decipher what they mean. We must never assume that they know what we are saying and we should never assume that they are too young to understand what we are talking about.


Anyways, I am sure we are going to learn a lot more along the way, but so far this experiment as been an answer to our prayers.

Think Radical, Act Moderate, And Educate Along The Way

Think radically, act moderately, and don't worry about who gets credit, then educate, and soon the ship will be turned around. You may choose to act like an iceberg and not moderate, but then you would be no better than the crew who thought the ship was unsinkable.

It is funny, I thought that this principle was a principle for politics, but the other day I got so angry with one of my boys because he throws a fit every time we ask him to do anything that takes him away from his Legos. In my anger I spanked him, and told him to pick up his Legos, and that he was grounded from them for 30 days so that he could learn to enjoy work. 

I was so mad I had to leave to get out of the situation. I felt terrible. I was upset all day. My son had forgiven me, but he was curious as to whether I was serious about the 30 days. I felt there is no way I can back down, but I also felt that I didn't want to follow through with the 30 days. I had a radical thought that I wanted to force him to learn about the importance of working with a good attitude. Now, I was stuck with the consequences myself. 

Through the day I was trying to come up with an idea that would satisfy the 30 days and yet would give them the incentive to change their behavior before they got discouraged and thinking they could never make it. Then the phrase "time off for good behavior" came to mind.  Then I thought to myself, a day without complaints about work was worth more to me than a normal day. So, I decided to make them earn 30 days but they could earn up to 2 days for a really good day. This allowed me to moderate my initial action and give them incentive to be better than just okay without compromising the end goal. 

So we set forth the rules as such:

1) if you get more than 2 warnings you lose a day.

2) if you get 2 or less warnings then you can mark 1 day

3) if you get no warnings and have a great attitude the whole day you can mark 2 days off the chart.

Now, that we have got them into the routine and they are making an effort we, as parents, can sit back and encourage, and educate them, help them to see what they can change so they don't have to lose a day. 

So far it seems to be working better than I thought. We are early on in this experiment, but I can already tell a difference in this approach over other approaches. I believe that it gives them more incentive to change than to stay the same. I can also tell that it is going to take a little more mental effort for one of my boys than it will be for the other. However, I still see a difference in his attitude as well. 

It wasn't until I had set up the rules and had my boy print out his chart that I realized that this program followed the principle of think radical, act moderate, and educate along the way. I am really excited to see the results at the end of this experiment. 

Marriage Is About Being Partners Not Parents

A marriage with two parents disciplining each other will never last, but a marriage of two partners helping each other become disciplined will last for time and all eternity...

The real trick to a marriage is learning how to change how we fight. Most of us never get past the idea that marriage is hard work. And once we do get married and the honeymoon finally winds down and we have our first "discussion" suddenly we think not only is it hard work, but it hurts as well. Our interpretation of this is that we are now at war. Now this is not an all out war, but a subtle war which is even worse, because we know we have to live with the enemy. We begin to make truces, but we are constantly checking to make sure that the truce is still being honored. Every time the truce is broken we feel picked on and we naturally seek out the weaknesses of our opponents defense system. Instead of til death do us part, we are in an MMM cage fight to the death. Okay a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Suddenly we start seeing our spouse as our parent and we start feeling like a teenager, or even worse we feel like the parent and we see our spouse as the teenager. This marriage is headed over a cliff.

Marriage is a battle, and there is a very real war being fought. However, once we begin to realize that we are on the same team, and that we are partners in this battle, tied to each others success, then and only then will we truly be capable of becoming a real married couple. Until then we are merely two people contracted to each other. Once we are on the same page nothing can beat us. Together we become synergistic making us more than twice as powerful together than we ever could be individually. This does not mean that we no longer have problems. The point of getting on the same team is not that we are guaranteed no opposition, but that we can have confidence that we have a partner as we face that opposition. Sometimes it will be your weaknesses, sometimes it will be your spouses weaknesses that need to be addressed. 

Once you are on the same team you can stop taking offense when your spouse offers you help in seeing a change that you may need to make, and you can be assured that they are there to help you overcome. Once you are on the same team you will not allow yourself to react emotionally when your spouse shows their weaknesses and shortcomings. We will not belittle our spouse for being weak, but we will help them find the help they need and support them in their battle. This kind of marriage doesn't mean that both parties are 100% all of the time. It means that when one is not doing well the other picks up the slack and both communicate their needs. This kind of team is in the zone. That kind of marriage can not be conquered no matter how big the obstacles so long as it remains a two person team.

The Trojan Horse of Addiction

Some people enjoy their addictions. They see the bars as keeping unwanted people out and all they have to do is take a sip, a hit, or a peek and they leave this cruel world behind and enter their own safe haven filled with comfort and peace. It isn't until they want to bring someone into their world and they can't that they realize the bars are not a safe haven, but a prison. It isn't until then that what they saw as a freedom becomes shackles, and what was once a dream becomes a nightmare. What they thought was peace was a Trojan horse.

The argument that you if you don't use your agency you will loose it is only one of the Adversaries biggest half truths. If you don't use your agency correctly then you will lose your freedom is the whole truth. God gives us rules not to confine us, but to keep us free. Not to imprison us, but to help us soar.

Tear Down Your Walls

The walls we put up to protect us from being hurt, and from hurting others, also keeps love out. We have to tear down our walls and risk hurting and being hurt in order to love and be loved.

Truth is, the more we expose our self to the risk of pain the greater our ability to love, and the greater our ability to love, the less pain has the ability to stop us from loving.

Emotional intelligence is not giving your trust to everyone, nor is it giving it to no one. Emotional intelligence is knowing who to let into your inner circle of trust and who to keep out of your inner circle of trust. It is knowing that somethings are worth the risk and other things are not worth the risk. 

President Ronald Reagan once stood before a wall and said these words, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" The results were historical. And if you decide to accept the challenge yourself the results might just be as historical in your personal life. 

Shame Makes Us Helpless To Avoid

Shame is a string that fetters us to the stake we fear,
but feel hopeless to avoid.

Shame is an emotion we feel when we have done something dishonorable. When we ignore this emotional response and continue to participate in our dishonorable actions we begin to develop a very self destructive habit, or addiction. This addiction in the beginning could have been easily avoided had we not ignored the shame in the beginning. However, the more we feed our addiction the more it sucks the will from us to stop our actions, and shame becomes a fetter that binds us to that addiction. 

When a young elephant is captured for the purpose of enslaving it they are often tide to a small post with a rope. As a young elephant this is enough to discourage them from running away. As they grow older this massive creature could easily break the rope or possibly even pull up the post that it is bound to, but because it was conditioned early on it loses its desire try and escape. 

As human beings when we become both the hunter and the hunted we drive the stake into the ground and fetter ourselves only to find that the spirit of freedom within us begins to be awakened far too late for us to recognize what we have done to ourselves. We begin to fear the stake which we drove into the ground, because even though the string is not very strong we have become weaker than it.

Keep Life Simple Right is Right And Wrong is Wrong

The question was posed, why is it that we ask others to participate with us when we know that we are about to do something wrong? I think that man has a tendency to believe if he can persuade enough people into doing something wrong that he can make that which is wrong right.
To suppose that God will change his mind is a foolish thought indeed. God is not a respecter of people, he does not consider popularity as a determination of right and wrong.
Life really is simple. Do what is right and happiness will follow. Do what is wrong, no matter how much you want to do it, and you will sow and or reap unhappiness.

I Am Tired Of Political Parties

Beware of political parties. The more I think about political parties the less I see the need for them. I mean in the current atmosphere of political stink I think we have lost the purpose of the primaries and caucuses. We have already determined that come this fall we are going to elect one of two parties both of which are to blame for our current mess and both of which are unwilling to admit their part in the mess which will lead to just a bigger mess.

Politics are inherently corrupt due to the intoxication of power. Like alcohol or any other drug some may be able to function for a time, but the danger of addiction is almost inevitable. Once addicted denial and self aggrandizement begin to corrode the character of even the strongest of statesmen. It is no wonder that George Washington served with reservation and left without regret.

Once we give our total allegiance to a party we tend to lose our objective point of view and we tend to give "our side" the benefit of the doubt while scrutinizing our "enemy" for the same actions. We tend to drink the kool aid of our party leaders, not realizing that both sides are drinking out of the same bucket. Those in power are more concerned about their next fix (election) than they are about the consequences their actions have on the average person. Both parties seeking the ultimate prize of total control and domination over the other party never mind the casualties along the way.

That being said, I do believe it is our duty to get involved in the process of electing good men, getting them in and getting them out of office before they can be poisoned by the power. I have affiliated myself with the Republican party, but I have many reservations in embracing the party completely. They should have to earn my vote as much anyone.

Our country is being torn apart by all the hot air that is being blown in every direction. I am so tired of the class warfare, name calling, emotional insults, and campaign rhetoric. If I believed everything that was said I don't think I could vote for anyone.

It is the political parties that play tug of war with different demographics, with no real concern for the truth at all. All they care is that we believe them long enough that we will elect them and that we forget after they are elected. If I sound a little bit cynical then I must be communicating effectively.

I am tired of listening to how terrible this country is. I am tired of politicians thinking that we can't live without them. I am tired of political ads. I am tired of debating my friends on issues that I know if it weren't for politics telling us we believe different we might actually understand each other. I am tired of being called a racist, when I know I am not. I am tired of being accused of wanting the poor to suffer. I am tired of being accused by my friends, who know me, of being anything but what I am. I am tired of politicians defining what is right and what is wrong and what I should believe. I am tired of government forcing us to bow to the god of environmentalists and saying we do not care about the environment if we don't believe them. I am tired of being painted with  broad brush that leaves me unrecognizable.

Beware of Political parties they are destroying our desire to get along. Don't give them that power. Yes, we may think differently on some issues, but we really don't believe that differently. We may disagree with how things can be accomplished, but no one wants poisoned water, or dirty air.
Let's be honest. If our goal is to feed the hungry does it matter how it gets done as long as it gets done?The hypocrisy of our leaders is they preach one thing, and enforce another. They speak of equality, but make it impossible for us to become equal. They speak of freedom and of defending our rights while at the same time abusing the agency we gave them to defend us. They have so successfully destroyed the premise of right and wrong and made the argument about right and left, Republican and Democrat, Conservative and Liberal, that the right answer is not even in the equation.

Until "We the People" come together and realize the gift that God has given to us in this country we are going to be kicked to the curb by the very machine we allowed to be created under our very nose. We have to shake ourselves out of the sleep we have been put under and remember who we are and who we are meant to be. It doesn't matter which side you stand on, choose to stand in the light.

Mid Life Crisis: Doesn't Matter How Old You Are

What might have been is a fantasy that can never be. Often when we look back on life we are left wondering what might have been had I made this decision or that. What might have been, if dwelt upon can cause us to go into crisis mode. It doesn't matter whether you are 25, 35, 45 or 65 dwelling on these kinds of questions can often leave us feeling somewhat uneasy about our future and our past. Instead we must keep ourselves grounded in the present only looking back to see where we can improve our current decision making.
Do not mourn your past it is part of you and it is the foundation for the best of you. You are who you are because you have learned and grown past the bad decisions, and if you haven't then now is your chance to do what is right by making the decision to be your best self right where you are.
Sometimes we think we can go through life without difficulties and be a better person. I can tell you right now that is a lie. We must work hard to become the person we want to be. If we do not have to work hard then we have not set a high enough goal and we will not experience happiness.
A mid life crisis happens when we take for granted the difficulties we have been given. Often times they sneak up on us without warning, and we are faced with a very real perception that we might be able to change our future by abandoning our present for a fantasy of our past.
When we start to feel the panic of not being where we want to be it is easy to blame those around us for our circumstances. It is important to ground ourselves in the present, in our faith, in reason, and in what we know is morally correct. If we do not the chances of coming through the crises with a happy ending go down considerably.

Being in the "Eye of Faith" is when all hell breaks out all around us but we can still see how everything that is happening is going to benefit us in the long run. It is easy to enter this Eye of Faith when we believe God is a loving Heavenly Father and wants us to be happy. Once we have this conviction we will start looking for the pony when we are going through crap.

Respect Is A Powerful Inhibitor Of Temptation ...

Respect is a powerful influence in doing what is right. While admiration may lead you to temptation, respect inspires your best behavior. When we respect one another we acknowledge the fact that they are a son or daughter of God and we treat each other as such whether they acknowledge that or not. Understanding who we are and the expectations that come from our divine parentage leads us not only to doing good to others but to respect their property as well.
When we respect God we also respect his creations. The temptation to litter, misuse resources, or otherwise truly damage the environment is inhibited when we respect God's creations. Vandalism, theft, and violence is not a temptation when we respect our neighbors. Morality comes naturally when we respect each other.  When we respect God his commandments are easy to keep. When we respect each other laws are not needed. Maybe this is what Christ meant when he said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself."
Respect brings us a greater appreciation for the good in all people. 

You Have to Experience The Truth To Know It

The other day my family went to the park to play catch with a football. My wife  payed attention as I  taught the boys how to throw the ball. After throwing the ball perfectly a couple of times she said, "You know, it feels good when you throw it right." And that is exactly the way it feels when we act in the truth, it feels right and it will show.

The only way we can truly know the truth is by experiencing the truth. Until we know the truth it will simply just be one more theory that may or may not be true. Christ said to prove his words, do what he says and we can know if it came from the Father.
Education is important. However, learning how to think is much more important than learning what to think. The challenge faced by those trying to get an education nowadays is that many professors have become arrogant and prideful and are not interested in teaching their students how to think, but are more interested in teaching them what to think. The theories they teach are taught as fact, yet in 10 years those truths will be replaced by "new truths." Not that we can not benefit from those theories, but if we are not careful we can be sucked in to the idea that education comes by feeding the ego of our professors, rather than using our professors knowledge to surpass them.
I believe that it is our responsibility to question God. If we should question God then we should definitely question those who think they know more than God. The most important principle in education today seems to be to question everything including your beliefs. But I say the most important principle in education is to learn how to listen for the answers to your questions. 

Humility Brings Peace of Mind

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to teach someone how to avoid the consequences that you have already learned about from sad experience. Then to have them say, "I know, I know..." then proceed to do exactly, exactly what you did until you humbled yourself.

Humility, can save us heartache and pain if we allow it to work within us. We were not sent into mortality to figure everything out on our own. God gave us parents to show us an example of how or how not to do things. If you see your parents are not happy then you should investigate exactly what it might be that makes them not happy. I can guarantee that humility will not be on the list of things that do not make them happy.

When I say humility, I do not subscribe to the woeful countenance, self depreciating, and depressing brand of humility. I subscribe to the willingness to admit what you do not know, willingness to admit what you do know, and understanding who you are as a child of God brand of humility. You do not have to denigrate yourself in order to appear humble. When we are more concerned about looking humble we often lose true humility. The desire to appear is born of a fear and of vanity, and vanity is born of pride. Pride is the opposite of humility.

When you lack humility it is a sign of insecurity. Insecurity leads to fear and fear leads to the dark side... When you get rid of those insecurities you do not have to fear what you do not know, but you find peace in learning what you do not know.  

The Secret Is Obedience

I learned along time ago that my body tends to want what it wants and it does not like pain. I also have sadly learned that when I give into what my body wants I end up not being happy with what I get.
The mind body connection is fascinating to me. Sometimes I feel like they are constantly battling each other like siblings. Other times they work and play together, and when that happens powerful things come together and creation happens in one form or another.
Most of us don't allow our mind to take us to the point where the body sees where the mind is going. Once the body sees, or feels where the mind is going it will begin to conform to the will of the mind. It takes some time mostly because even though the mind is suppose to lead most of us have allowed our body to lead. The body really needs the mind to take control in order for us to reach our potential.
 When our mind and body are working together we are more susceptible to inspiration and our ability to act in faith is increased. Pushing our physical limits may increase our spiritual capacity if we allow our body and spirit to submit to the will of God. I think that is the real secret to happiness.

Eat Less, Move More. Becoming Physically
what I already am Mentally.

You Have To Decide What You Want

As of July 4, 2011                            January 2011              

This week has been interesting. I started Monday off with a bang. I thought I was suppose to run 4 miles instead of the usual 3miles and I did it in record time. Wednesdays run was at a good steady pace, but Thursday I felt like I had lead boots on. I could not get myself into the run. My wife and kids have left me home alone for a couple of days and it was hard to motivate myself to get home faster... Oh well, I got home and I got it done. It is one of those lessons in life. When your destination is somewhere you are not looking forward to there is no urgency to get there. And when there is no urgency to get there you tend to feel more pain along the way.

I was thinking about the importance of doing something for the right reasons. It is not hard to see where most people go wrong in setting goals that they have no intention of really keeping. They say they do, but they are unwilling to really change their habits. Some people want to lose weight so that they can eat like they used to...kinda defeats the purpose, unless that is their purpose, and they want to make the run back up the scale and end up worse off than they were before.

When I started my journey I had two motivations. First and foremost I knew I should lose weight, and second there was a chance of winning a prize. The prize, to be honest was only enough for me to make an effort to get started. I really did not think it would be mine at the end of the day.  I went in thinking it cost me my fee, but if I lose 15-20 lbs I will consider that a win. So, I kinda minimized the idea of winning any money pretty fast.

The funny thing was the further I pulled ahead the less it was about the money and the more it became about feeling good. I still have not jumped on the band wagon or become a "health nut." I think there is something to eating right, but anything you get too wrapped up in takes away from the enjoyment of living and causes more stress than it is worth. I just want to feel good physically. I want the mental alertness, and the energy to work in the garden or go for a hike. I just want my spirit to be as free as it can be inside this body I have been given. I want to confirm my own thoughts that I have always had, that if we listen to our body it will tell us what we need, to accomplish what we want to accomplish. That is something that we as individuals must decide for ourselves. And that is usually why diets don't work. I believe that life should be a spiritual experience in a physical body, but allowing ourselves to get out of shape makes our body more of an emotional prison for our soul.

Eat Less and Move More, Becoming Physically what I already am Mentally.

Freedom Is About Becoming Better

The Spirit of Freedom Is the Spirit of Christ...

As we celebrate the birth of the United States of America we must remind ourselves what freedom is. Freedom is the ability to discover right from wrong for ourselves. Freedom is the opportunity to discover consequences both good and bad for ourselves. It is the opportunity to serve others according to our means and learning to increase our means on our own. It is about learning to allow others to grow at their own pace and having tolerance toward those who are growing slower or faster than we are. It is about lifting others by our example and through sharing our own experiences. Freedom is about facing our fears and conquering them. It is about becoming better tomorrow than we were today and teaching our children to be better than us. It is about learning how to overcome our natural man and learning who we really are.

Freedom is a blessing to those who understand its purpose and utilize it for what it is. However, it is a curse to those who do not understand and refuse to recognize it for what it is. While freedom allows corruption to exist it promotes righteousness when we begin to measure our freedom on something greater than material possessions understanding that material possessions are merely a tool. Freedom is more about what we become in the process of getting than it is about getting.

What can we do to show our respect for those who have died that we may enjoy our freedoms? We can become a better person and teach our children to become better than we are. 

Becoming Physically What We Already Are Mentally

Becoming Physically what we already are Mentally is probably the least obvious yet most important aspect of the program we design for ourselves. This principle forces us to look at why we want to lose weight and what we want to look like when we are done. It is important to note that those with eating disorders often look in the mirror and see what they do not want to see. So, instead of looking in the mirror and seeing what we do not want to see, we need to assess where we are at briefly, but dwell more on what we want to become. When we look in the mirror we want to  briefly see where are at, but more importantly we should imagine definitions forming and unwanted parts of us disappearing. This does two things, if we are honest with ourselves. First, it gives us a hope. We are looking for progress. Second, it locks in to our subconscious a blue print of where we want it to take us. So, be very careful and as detailed as you can when you program it into the subconscious. Always make it a positive image.

The subconscious mind is a powerful tool. It is like a heat seeking missile once we tell it what we want, it will find a way to get there for good or for bad. The subconscious mind is resourceful and creative and it has no limits to its potential possibilities. So, we must tell it what we want then listen as it guides us there. Once we are locked in to the subconscious we do not need a formal diet to tell us what and what not to eat, our body will start telling us what we should and shouldn't eat. It will start telling us if we are not exercising right, it will nudge us in one direction or another until we either tell it we no longer want that goal or until we comply with its demands. It is a good idea to expose ourselves to as many ideas as we can during this process because the subconscious will filter and relay information to our conscious mind, those things which are right for us. For example, as I did this, words like metabolism and fiber came to my mind.  I began doing some research on what they are and what they do. This led me to a list of different kinds of foods that, funny enough, I realized I was craving. I also noticed that by eating the things that were good for me the need for sweets either led me to better healthier alternatives, or the cravings were minimized.

Who we are is an important question we have to ask ourselves in the process of losing weight, because often times those of us who have gained a lot of extra pounds have made a conscious or subconscious decision to gain our weight. These are usually very emotional reasons not always logical. We have trained ourselves to eat more for comfort even though in the end eating for comfort does not solve the problems we are trying to fix with food. Not only that but our mindset when we eat for comfort tends to tell our body to hold onto it. Depression and anxiety have been linked to weight gain. Understanding this can be helpful in flipping that switch that will help us to eat less than we want. Instead of eating more learn how to be comforted by flavor rather than a full tummy. Then practice keeping the flavor in your mouth longer and savor it. Truly enjoy it, try to understand why that flavor brings you comfort.

Sleep is another subject that should be addressed when it comes to losing weight because it effects not only our mental effectiveness but also our physical effectiveness in losing weight. A tired body does not have the ability to exert itself nearly as well as a rested body. I have also found that my body seems to warm up faster in the mornings when I have gotten a good nights rest, which means my metabolism is more responsive. Mentally being awake is important especially when you are trying to push yourself. When we are exhausted our self doubts seem to have far more influence over our body. This particular principle is one that I continue to struggle through. I understand it in my head, but I am still working on getting it inside of me. Which tells me I have many more mental clicks to go before I have this all figured out. :)

Be Good! Be Kind! And Be Happy! Enjoy!

Becoming Physically what I already am Mentally.