The Answer Is No

The past few weeks, months and even 2015 in general have been challenging to say the least for me. I've faced health issues, spent more time than desired seeing various doctors, and dealing with the emotional and financial impacts of such activities.

Through this year I've done my best to trust God and follow my life verse:

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him
and he will direct your paths.

But if you've followed my journey for long, you know there are valleys and peaks on my way. I struggle with self-image, I struggle to be a God-pleaser and not a people-pleaser.

People mean well, but I've been reminded again that most people can't even manage their own life that well, so why should I worry about them trying to direct my life?

Can God speak through people? Obviously he does, but every word out of the mouth of man or woman is not from God. That person may just be having a bad day, they may be lashing out at me out of frustration with their own life situations, or any number of things.

What I have come to conclude in my own life is that firstly God loves me, will always love me, and has already promised to never leave me nor forsake me.

Secondly, my calling in life is not your calling in life. People, myself included, tend to take their calling and their passions in life and try to place it on everyone they meet.

If we were intended to be this way, then we would all do everything, and do it with excellence. Instead God gave some to be preachers, some to serve in the background, some to teach, some to write, and on and on.

I have a talent and love for music and singing, but it would be ridiculous for me to get frustrated with family members that can't hold a note in the shower, just because that's my gift.

We are here not only for ourselves, but for each other.

With all that being said, I've come to realize that in regard to my health journey I'm just going to have to get used to saying no.

It's great that someone is thin, they easily lose weight, their body performs correctly all the time, but that's not me. Sure I've lose a lot of weight, but lately despite my best efforts, my visits to doctors, my many prayers, I'm in a holding pattern.

People I respect have questioned me, assuming that I must be doing something wrong for me to not be at my ideal weight, but they don't know my day-to-day struggles to eat correctly, how I normally do and that it doesn't seem to matter to my body, it does what it does. It is what it is and the more I degrade myself because of my weight, the worse I will be in my spirit, mind and body. It's time for me to do my best, leave the rest up to God and ignore the critics.

Along those same lines, I've come to realize that I can't be All-American Athlete. I can't run fast, it's not a criticism of myself, it's the truth. But many for whatever reason don't seem to want to accept that answer. The criticism I place on myself already is a heavy burden, and I don't need any help from others putting more on me than I've already put on myself.

So from now on, if the activity is not something I personally enjoy, like long-distance running, I'm just going to have to say no. This will not make me friends, but for my own peace-of-mind, I have to learn to follow God's peace and do the activities I love and bring joy to my life. I can't do it all, just because so many have their own activities that bring them joy.

I don't want to make this post sound like a rant, although it does a bit. But I'm talking to myself as much as anyone else.

If I ever expect to have peace in every area of life, I've got to sometimes take the hard way, push through negativity inflicted by others and myself, and follow God's heart and his ways.

Jesus said:

I came that they may have and enjoy life,

and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].



 

T-Minus 9 Days!

Hello again Friends, it's about that time... when I try again to conquer El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure!

If you go back to my first post, you'll read that back in 2010 I was denied riding the #1 ranked wooden coaster in the world, located on the outskirts of Philadelphia and it inspired me to start searching for a way to lose weight.

Along the journey to lose weight, I've discovered F3, GORUCK and all kinds of silly things like 5k's, 10k's and mud runs, all of which I've already completed with a little help from my friends.

I'm somewhere in the neighborhood now of 60lbs. down, with a goal to lose another 30 or so before I learn to settle into being skinny again for the first time in a very, very long time.

Recently I was able to buy my first 36" pants and shorts in probably fifteen years!

That brings me to this post: nine days from now I'll be hopefully riding El Toro for the first time!  I say hopefully, because after you've taken the Walk of Shame too many times, you never assume you are going to fit on a coaster, especially one so restrictive like El Toro.

Going into this weight loss journey, I was prepared I think, for the physical aspects but had no idea the emotional impact such a journey would take on me.

There are days I get depressed because I'm still overweight, still technically considered obese, then there are days I feel like nothing can stop me and the weight doesn't stand a chance.  This is why F3 has become vital for me.

F3 is full of thousands of guys, some serious athletes, at least one actual Olympian is in the F3 south Charlotte brotherhood now, but most are just average guys just trying to get better.

Many though have never been seriously overweight as I have been, and while they empathize with me, they really don't know what it's like to be so overweight you can't see your feet, so overweight that the weight of your arms puts pressure on your body while in bed to the point of stopping normal circulation, so overweight that you have skin issues, with being so heavy and skin rubbing against skin and causing sores and all other painful issues.  But they still encourage, still push me, still drag me along sometimes. OK, maybe not literally the last one, but certainly emotionally.

It amazes me when anyone says they are inspired by me, it's so easy to look at myself and forget how far I've come, to forget how strong I've gotten, and to forget that I'm well over half way home on the weight loss!

When a friend who I consider a real American hero, serving our country overseas while his wife is home taking care of seven children, because he'd "rather fight them over there, than at home." calls me an inspiration, and wants to do GORUCK when he gets home because I've gotten into GORUCK, it simply blows me away and humbles me, and shocks me a bit too.

When I consider that just a year and two months ago, I could barely survive a F3 workout, and now I've lead about twelve or thirteen workouts now, I just smile and shake my head.

Even though the Bible was talking really of spiritual things, I can't help but feel that 1 Corinthians 1:28 somehow applies to me:

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are...

It's like me leading F3 workouts, what am I doing?  There are guys in much better shape than I,  who can run rings around me, but there I am.  But that's the great thing about the Body of Christ, God gifts us all with different gifts, different skills, we don't all know it all, and we haven't all achieved it all.

So, who knows if I'll fit on El Toro this time around.  I sure hope so.  But if I don't, I'm not giving up on this journey.  I've learned too much, I've been inspired and pulled into things that have reignited a passion for life, country, my fellow man and God (not in that order) and I'm excited about my life now, I'm excited about what the future holds.  Two years ago I would never have said that.  Never.

So if you're out there, and like me you struggle with your weight, an addiction, whatever, don't give up.  God is there reaching out to you, it may be through someone smiling as you walk your dog, it may be in a brother kicking you in the rear to keep running, whatever it is, God works in our lives, if we let Him.

Look for an update soon about the results of my trip, here's hoping and praying that I'm able to ride the bull! Ole!

Until next time...

Here I Go Again

I don't know where I'm going

But, I sure know where I've been

Hanging on the promises

In songs of yesterday

An' I've made up my mind,

I ain't wasting no more time

But, here I go again

Here I go again

Those lyrics from Whitesnake are oddly appropriate for next week as I will be heading down to South Carolina to participate in the Super Bowl of F3, the legendary USMC Leatherneck mud run!  Here I go again on another fitness adventure, but I'm not going on my own as the song says.

Just last Saturday I celebrated my one year anniversary in F3 by going back to where it all started for me - Ascent.  Ascent is a moderate Saturday F3 workout, but moderate doesn't equal easy and I didn't bring an easy workout either but I was so excited to see a new guy join F3 last week and I see today he's posted again today.  That's what it's all about.  You post to get in shape, you don't get in shape then post.

Besides being a bit scared, I'm so excited to finally see the true brotherhood that is F3 in action in the biggest way yet in my life.  I am running with three brothers from my Friday/Saturday workouts in Union County and all of them are strong and will probably be pulling me along at some point, but it's not about me, or them, it's about us.  It's about the team that is F3.  I Am Third is one of the many mantras of F3, but when it happens, what an amazing thing it is.  When a brother kneels down on the ground to allow me to climb on his leg so I can scale a wall, that's I Am Third.  When brothers are cheering me on or ensuring I'm safe, or any number of things, that's I Am Third and it's what our world is dying for.

Our world has sold us many lies, but one of the biggest is that to find true joy in life, you need to focus on yourself. It's a lie.

How did Mother Theresa, Gandhi, St. Francis of Assisi, the Lord Jesus or any number of great people of the past make their mark?  Not through touting themselves, but by serving others.  

I'm not talking about selling it all and moving to India, but sometimes that's what it takes for someone to follow the heart of God.

But what are you doing today that helps someone else?  It doesn't have to be complicated, it might be as simple as leading a workout, smiling at a stranger on the street, NOT cursing at someone who is being obnoxious in the car, or it could be moving to Africa and falling in love with her people and working to make someone else's life better.

We don't do these things to earn God's favor, if you are a child of God you already have that.  We do these things out of gratitude for what God did for us on the Cross so many years ago.

God took on human flesh, lived a perfect life for thirty-three years, then gave it all up to be beaten to a bloody pulp and give up his life on a nasty, cruel cross.  That's how much God loved you and me.  If God loves you that much, can't you take a moment to help someone else along the way?  

Until next time...

The Year Of Wes - In Conclusion

2014 has almost passed us by, and I must come full circle, with thanksgiving and give a final report on the Year Of Wes.

As mentioned in an earlier post, at the start of the this year my friend and former trainer Jason had challenged me to take on 2014 as the Year of Wes.

What started with hope, turned into success, and then some.

As you can clearly see in the graphic, a lot happened for me this year and more is hoped for next year.

Before I jump into talking more about myself than I probably should, I would be remiss to not mention the passing of my mother two weeks before Christmas this year.  Mom had a rough year, and it took a nosedive in the summer when she was first hospitalized.

After a courageous battle and decision to face death head-on, Mom went to be with the Lord two weeks to the day before Christmas. 

As you can imagine this was very hard for me, and many tears were shed even though I believe that she is in a much better place.

I am grateful, among many things, that Mom got to see me drop so much weight this year.  Being a retired nurse, she was always concerned about my weight.

With the love, support and prayers of many, including my F3 brothers I am making it through these days of grief and reflection.

It would be easy to get down during the Christmas season with Mom's passing, and there have been rough days, but there is still Hope for me in this life and the next and that includes taking care of my health.

I won't rattle off the accomplishments of the year, you can read them above.  I will however say that this year has been one of the most transformative ones in my 42 years on this planet.

You're like sure Wes, you dropped 56 lbs., that's transformative.  Well, sure.  But like anything it starts deeper than skin-deep.

I had no idea what I was missing coming into 2014, and it was true male leadership in my life. 

The guys in F3 and SPEARHEAD have challenged me, and encouraged me all along the way to keep pushing and keep changing.

Many mornings at F3, not much is said, but I'm deeply inspired by these guys who are my brothers now, and amazed not only at their physical fitness levels, but the size of the hearts.

Our society has reduced male society to some macho, drinking, sexist community when true male society is so far removed from all that.

True men lead by example, and inspire by doing what many refuse to do.  Namely get up before the crack of dawn to work their bodies to the point of exhaustion.

I've met men more than thirty years my senior who can run laps around me, and can still kick serious butt in life and in a workout.

The gym lie (I don't hate gyms, just not a fan anymore) tells you that you can do it all -- alone.  Well I couldn't.  I had a gym membership and hated it.

I never laughed. I never talked to anyone there.  There was no community there as the sales rep had told me there would be.  Strangely enough that gym has since gone out of business. Coincidence?

But at F3 we're laughing and cutting up, and sweating and sucking wind, and pushing each other and then when it's all said and done we go eat!  Well, at least on Saturdays.

People have told me that F3 sounds too intense.  It sounds too hard.  It's just as hard as you want to make it.  Honestly the hardest thing about F3 is showing up the first time.  Many of the workouts you set your own pace.  If you're a slow runner, run slow.  You'll get faster in time.

Then after a few times, you find you don't hate it quite as bad.  Then suddenly you miss it when you are sick, or out of town or whatever.

Soon you find yourself doing races and doing things like GORUCK that you thought were physically impossible for you to do.  But there you are, doing them.

So don't believe the lies you've been told.  It's too hard, it's too long, you'll get bored, you'll get injured, you won't find any friends, on and on. 

Step out and try F3 or FIA (for ladies) and you may just have your own Year Of (Insert Name Here).

I'm amazed, humbled, shocked, inspired and challenged by all that 2014 has brought me and excited to see even more goals crushed with a little help from my friends next year.

Best wishes for a wonderful new year, and here's to the Year Of Wes 2.0!

Amazing What A Few Inches Can Do

Greetings friends and followers of my little blog, back with an update that is about a month late.  Not a lot has happened on the scale, but a lot has happened in other areas of my weight loss journey.

Still sticking with the 5:2 Diet and working out at F3, and it continues to pay off.

On September 20, I attended ACE Southeast's SCarolina Coaster Classic, coaster event at Carowinds.

This was my first opportunity to visit Carowinds in a few months and wow did I see a big difference on the coasters.

The coaster shown is Afterburn (some may remember it as Top Gun: The Jet Coaster) and for the longest time it has been a battle for me to fit on the coaster.  But not on the 20th!

My favorite place to ride on Afterburn is in the back row, the forces are the strongest there and I really love it.  But the back row has been a struggle for a long, long time because the belts would many times be too short for me because I was so overweight.

There were times I would barely fit, with the ride attendants struggling to get the belt locked. There were times I was turned away or given the option of the big-boy-seats, which have longer seat belts but are in the middle of the train and don't offer the same G forces.

On the 20th I sat down in the seat and pulled my seat belt and locked it and low and behold it was loose!  I can't remember the last time I had an inch or two of slack on my seatbelt for any B&M inverted coaster.

As you may know my whole reason, besides my health, to lose weight began when I was denied riding El Toro in New Jersey.   Today I think I would fit!  Of course I'm not stopping, I'm going for the gold and while I'm already thinner than I've been in over a decade, I want to go about 30 or 40 more pounds down and then find a way to maintain that weight the rest of my life.

For years I've had roller coaster t-shirts hanging in my closet that no longer fit.  I obviously bought them when I was thinner, but I just held on to them hoping some day I could fit in them again.  Well they all fit now!  I'm actually wearing a Millennium Force shirt today that hasn't been loose on me since probably I bought it in 2003.

I'm running a 5k Sunday (my third since June 2013) and I'm hoping to best my last race time.  I'm also planning to do my first mud run in April!  I always seem to be scared before the next challenge, but I also know that I'll get through it.

If you're thinking about doing a mud run in the future, F3 has a new men's mud run workout!   The Brave (the name of the workout) meets at The Vine at 5:15 on Fridays.

2015 will also hold my second GORUCK Light, my first 24 Hours of Booty, and possibly a GORUCK Challenge. 

Lots of stuff to keep me excited and motivated as I continue the Year of Wes with v2.0.

El Toro I'm coming to conquer you!  Ole!

Thanks for reading along and until next time please sit on your sandals!

Just Do It!

I love my time on the bicycle, I always seem to come up with my best ideas pedaling the country roads of Mecklenburg and Union counties.

This morning Nike ad Just Do It, popped into my brain while out on my Sunday morning ride.

First I'll say this is not an ad for Nike, I'm more of an Under Armour guy myself.  But the campaign that Nike launched all those years ago was brilliant in its simplicity.

How could three little words sum up so much. But another famous phrase I Love You is only three words and says so much.  Good things sometimes come in small packages, which should be encouraging to all my vertically-challenged friends out there.

Just Do It popped up in my brain this morning and it got me thinking, how many times should we just say to ourselves, not even out loud Just do it!  Just do it Wes! Just do it when it hurts, just do it when you want to be lazy, just do it when you'd rather sit in the recliner and veg out, just do it!

The strange thing I've found over the past 5 months of F3, is that at some point I don't have to tell myself to just do it.  I want to do it.

What in the world has happened to me of late?

In the past two days I've been called an Iron Man (the athletic version, not the metallic clad billionaire variety) and an athlete. An athlete? Me?  It boggles the mind.  But as I look at the definition above, I realize I am an athlete now and I'm loving every minute.  My friend Jason many times called us athletes at boot camp, but it's really sinking in.

As I sit here writing, my legs are in a state of serious repair.  They are very sore from a hard boot camp, I helped partly lead yesterday, and two days of cycling.  This is all being done by a guy that at the start of 2013 couldn't even run one-quarter of a mile. Which brings me back to my point, and I have one.

I'm frankly tired of hearing my fellow Americans tell me that they can't do this, or they can't do that.  Yes you can!  I'm not anything special, I wasn't born on Krypton.  I'm an American, born in the South: home to fried chicken, sweet tea and Krispy Kreme's!  Mmm...somewhere the hot donut sign just came on.

As I've advanced in my transformation this year, I've heard so many people say "I could never do that!".  Lies!  You can do this stuff!  You can get off the couch and take better care of yourself.

Am I saying that you all need to run out and do a ruck, certainly not.  But you can take better care of yourself, you can eat better, you can stop smoking or whatever your hangup is.  We all have them.
Sometimes they manifest in the strangest ways.

People tend to go to extremes.  They either workout too much, or not at all.  They either eat like a health nut, or they eat fast food until they are bloated, sickly creatures who hate life.  We need to find balance in our country and world.

There are people, by the thousands if not millions that struggle to provide one meal a day for themselves in our world.  Sometimes you may pass them on the street as you drive to Starbucks to buy your $5 mocha latte whatever-they-are-call-it.

I'm not here to guilt trip anyone, and I'm not here to say its wrong to be able to afford Starbucks every day. But I am here to say in my own small way, that you and I need to find balance in our lives.

This doesn't mean just health, but if your health is lacking then eventually you will have to stop life in general just to try and survive.  How many people do you hear of that don't take care of themselves and one day they have a heart attack or stroke?  Many of them could have prevented a lot of pain, suffering and financial woes if they'd only found balance in their lives.

I heard one of the best quotes recently, and sadly I can't recall the source:  When people are young, they spend all their health to make money.  When people are old, they spend all their money to make themselves healthy.  It's so true, and it's so sad.

Our society seems to be on the brink of a major shift.  The gap in the upper, middle and lower classes seems to be broadening in every respect.  It seems many in the middle class do think of others but many are struggling to achieve success in this world and make it to the upper class and therefore they lose focus on others. In many cases some of the most giving people in our country are the poor, the ones that can least afford to give.

I'm not here to bash the 1%, I'm saying we are all the 1%.  I heard in a sermon recently that if you own a refrigerator, you are in the top 5% wealthiest people in the world.  Read it again, in the world.

I am going to point (in a very nice way) a finger though at the rich.  What are you doing!?  I don't care if you have millions, but what are you doing with those millions?

Why do you need a new luxury car every 3 years, or 2, or 1?  That luxury car is a lie.  It tells you that you've succeeded, that you're better than your neighbor, or the guy at the office.

That car will one day rust and rot in some landfill, and your body will rot and decay in a grave.  What did you do with your money that helped anyone else?  I'm not trying to bash the rich.  If you have money and you help others with a portion of it, and give of your time to help others I applaud you.  You are certainly in the minority it seems.  Writing a check is all well and good, but what did you do that got you down in the trenches with the rest of us that are struggling to keep a roof over ourselves?

I come back in conclusion to this really long post to say this, Just Do It.  Whatever your battle is in life, whether its greed, obesity, depression, laziness, drugs, alcohol, apathy, whatever it is, just take today and just do something about it!

Battles are rarely won in an instant, they take planning and many times patience.  I challenge you to get in the battle for your life.  Make your life a better one, then you'll be able to improve someone else's life and when we all start to do that, what a wonderful world this place could be.

Until next time... please sit on your sandals!

St. Peter Is That You?

I'm back from my second 5k trail run!  Just wanted to share a short report of how it went.

First a little background: last August, on a strangely cool morning I set out running not only first 5k, but my first trail run too.

As one who has never run since high school, and even then not any great distances this was certainly a challenge.

I started off o.k. but then my back started to hurt and we had to stop for a minute and try and stretch it out.  Still I kept going and I finished at around 54:30.  Not terrible I guess for my first time out and considering the back problems.

2014 came along and I had my sights set on doing the 10k option and in the meantime some friends told me about East Side Church's new Queen City Trail Run 5k.

Being my second 5k of course I wanted to finish faster than the last time, I didn't know however that Reedy Creek Park's trails would be even harder than the Charlotte White Water Center's.

I knew the park was hilly as I play disc golf there pretty regularly.

I didn't know that one of those hills would be waiting for me and brother was it a tough one.  Jokingly I posted later that I expected to see St. Peter waiting at the top of that hill.

But I kept going and the hill eventually was in my rear view and down another hill and up some more I made it to the finish line.  As I turned the last corner I saw the clock was just over 48:00 and I all of a sudden found more energy to run than I had all morning.  I picked up the pace and finished strong beating my last time by nearly 6:00!

Now I'm not here to tell you I'm a fast runner, far from it.  But I honestly never thought I'd be able to run 1 mile, much less over 3.

I'm living proof that anyone can do this stuff.  It's not rocket science.  It just takes some hard work, time and effort and you will see results.

Until next time...please sit on your sandals!

Life Lessons From Blobsledding: CHARGE!

The 2014 Sochi games are behind us now, but some of the sports are still swirling around my brain and still inspiring me days later. One sport is the subject of this post - Bobsledding.

For those that find the pursuit of the fastest time down an ice chute rather boring, I'll give you my take on the sport in a nutshell.

You take 2 or 4 human beings, put them in super tight spandex-type material, clad their feet with shoes that allow them to run on ice, a helmet on their head and then tell them to push a sled as fast as they can, jump in the sled and then try to be the fastest to the bottom at speeds around 80 mph.

What I didn't mention though is the subject of this post - the start.  At the start the men or women get each other pumped up by slapping each other on the back and grunting or yelling at the top of their lungs as if they are the most excited they can possibly be to hurtle their bodies down a slick icy surface at speeds that would make most roller coasters jealous.

After they yell, close the visor on their helmets and grab the sled, they push with all their might and then the driver (the athlete in the lead) jumps into the sled and in what seems like one smooth motion they slide their body into the sled and start steering.

The other athlete(s) then do the same but they don't keep their heads up, in fact they bury their heads in the back(s) of the lead athlete(s) and only help the cause of speed by shifting their weight and by keeping themselves as aerodynamic as possible.

In many ways what I described could apply for my daily walk with God.  I should push off with as much enthusiasm as possible, but instead of being the driver, I let God drive the sled for the day and every day.

God, like the drivers of bobsleds knows the course.  He knows the turns, he know when things are going to get crazy, when the speed will seem unsafe, when the curves sling you the opposite way you thought you were going.

We should all push off each day with enthusiasm as if this may be our last run down this course, do our part, but then let God lead and do His part.  One day we will be right, and it will be our last run.  It may be tomorrow, or it may be 70 years from now.  One day every one of us will breathe our last.

Now that's easier said than done to live this way, and life never seems to come without a few crashes and without us trying to take over the Driver's seat from the driver that knows the course.

We can also refuse to even get on board, and that's in many ways is so much worse than even trying to take over the driver's seat.  At least the one who wrestles to take control, is at least on the ride.

I challenge you and I to always take the ride of life, but let God lead because He knows the way.

Until next time... Please sit on your sandals!

New Year, Old Wes?

Nearly a month has gone by in 2014 and so far so good.

In December I started the 5:2 Diet and so far I've lost about 15 lbs and down about 2 jean sizes! 

Now I've been here before with other diets, including Body By Vi, which just didn't seem to work well for me in the long term.  I was told by one person that folks with the A blood type don't do well on Body By Vi, not sure if that's true but it didn't work for me long term.

That being said, I'm committed to this thing and praying for God's guidance.  After all He was the one that created the human body anyway, so if anyone knows how it works it's Him!

This coming year I've got several goals in mind in regard to my body.

1. Lose 25 lbs and if I meet that goal fairly soon, then go for another 25!
2. Lose enough weight that I never, ever have to do the walk of shame on any coaster, and I especially want to lose enough weight to be able to ride El Toro, which I was denied in 2010 because I couldn't get the restraint down far enough.  This goal may not happen this year, but I'm working towards it.
3. Run a 10k!  Yes that's right, yours truly has set a goal to run his first 10k.  I ran my first 5k last year, and despite some challenges during the run, I finished... and I wasn't even the last one to finish!  For my first 10k my goal is to finish strong, and to finish.
4. If all goes well, I hope to do my first M.S. cycling event in about 10 years.  Back when I was thin, several years I did the Breakaway To The Beach event that is 150 miles over 2 days on a bicycle. And yes I finished it at least twice!  I even rode a century once (100 miles in ONE day) and that was probably the toughest thing I've ever done on a bike.   I may do a one day event, around 60 miles or so to start back and then in 2015 go for the 150 miler again.
5. Get healthier, be filled with joy, be content whatever my scale says and just take better care of myself.

Our society seems to be running at breakneck speed and has no time to slow down and take care of ourselves.  2014 I want to push myself physically, but not from lack of sleep, lack of exercise and lack of good nutrition.

I'm stronger than I've let myself believe the past 10 years or so, and it's time for the real Wes to come to the surface and God to get the glory.  Cause it's really His grace that has held me, and kept me pushing forward, even when I wanted to give up.

Philippians 4: 12-13

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Most of the time we just quote verse 13 and it sounds great, but we skip what Paul was saying in verse 12.  He was talking about being content, not just overcoming things in life.

It's always a struggle for me to stay content, I see the good things others have and want them myself.  But most of the time I'm not really willing to do what they did to get those things.  Am I willing to work 60 hours a week to have that BMW?  Not really.  But I am willing to put in the work to make myself stronger and healthier both physically and spiritually. 

2014 is a clean slate and we've got 11 more turns of the calendar to make something of it.  Join me on this journey! Together we will be new creations and maybe we won't even recognize ourselves by the end of the year.

Until next time... please sit on your sandals! 

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