Posts Tagged ‘workout’

My Incredible Year of Transformation!

Posted: January 13, 2012 in change, goals, inspiration, overcoming obstacles, personal, personal development
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There are certain years that we mark off as milestones. What immediately comes to mind are the years we turn sixteen or twenty one or forty come to mind. They all mark a transition point. One phase of life is ending and another is beginning. They are the thresholds we walk through to start living life in a different way. I remember my first year out of high school. It was a time of being on a steep learning curve. It was the time where I encountered the real world and the real world almost ate me alive. I experienced my first real love and my first real brush with the law and it sobered me up. It gave my life a little weight and transformed me.

Sometimes we experience these milestones and transitions along the same time table as everyone else but sometimes it’s not about being on a certain chronological time table with the rest of our peers or what society expects i.e. twenty first or fortieth birthday. Sometimes it’s just about what God is doing in us and with us at this moment; in this season. Right now I am experiencing one of those seasons; one of those moments. I am thirty four and my life is changing right before my eyes. Some of these changes include:

I just lost 12 lbs

Gaining a whole new perspective on relating to God (writing about that soon)

Taking actual steps toward writing a book (one chapter down :)

This is turning out to be a year of transformation and it has not all been meticulously planned. I just took advantage of what God gave me: a church that closed, a move to another city, and a need for rest. What has been a moment of fatigue, disappointment, and frustration has also turned out to be one of the best seasons of my life. No it didn’t start on January 1st but sometime around October. I am not on anyone’s timetable but my own. This is my incredible year of transformation.

No resolutions for 2012

Posted: December 28, 2011 in advice/how to, focus, goals, life hack, overcoming obstacles, personal development
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It’s funny how comments from strangers can make you think. You know the random comments. The comments that stick with you even days later because underneath what is so random is a kernel of truth. The other day just before leaving the gym one of the regulars asked me if I was “puttin in work.” I immediately answered that I just did. I felt good about my workout and the fact that I was following through with my goal of getting in better shape (soon I will post on what that looks like). What really stood out to me was his reply: Make sure it lasts after Christmas. When he said it I was struck with the fact that this goal of getting in shape was not made for the New Year. It was made in October during our time at the Vineyard Pastor’s Sabbatical Retreat. It was made not just for the New Year but for a new life.

I think sometimes talk of new year’s resolutions gets old because it is based on the year and not based on our lives. It is a resolution that ultimately fails because it is time bound and not life bound. Think about it. We resolve to lose weight and eat healthier every year. We buy bran muffins and asparagus. We get gym memberships and new workout clothes but by February and sometimes the second week of January we are back to supersizin it on a regular basis. Why? It is because our desired change is based on New Year’s resolutions and not New Life decisions.

I do not have any resolutions for 2012. I am already full speed ahead with my goals for life:

  • I have started my workout plan
  • I have already begun to write my book and am about to finish the first chapter in a few days.

I am making progress because these things come from a place deep inside of me and not from an external clock or ritualized calendar. They are simply what I want and I have decided to go after them. So no resolutions for me in 2012. Just a continuing of putting my hand to the plow and not looking back.

Instead of focusing on resolutions this year Here’s a better way to see change happen in your life:

  • Sit down with a paper and pen
  • Take some space and time to let some of your deepest desires surface.
  • Write down the one that is most important right now
  • Whatever that thing is pursue it with all your might.

That’s what is driving me and motivating me to go to the gym in rain and snow. I love this method because it makes the change about you and what you really want and not some moralistic guilt ridden promise that you made to yourself simply because the earth moved around the sun one more time! So no resolutions in 2012 for me. Just some awesome life decisions.