GYM THINK

The start of every year brings an influx of people into gyms. They have resolved to lose weight and get into shape, some for the first time; many repeat offenders. The desire is genuine, seeing themselves this coming summer strutting in their new bathing suit looking buff. What happens? After a few weeks (sometimes a very few) “stuff” begins to happen. Work ramps up. The kids start or resume an extra curricular activity that involves travel time and scheduling. The spouse is less than supportive in their activities or altered eating habits and the “discussions” about it are becoming at best tedious and at worst downright acrimonious. I’m sure you can add to the list. So with no real thought we give ourselves license to miss a session or two. The idea of everyone else eating pizza while we try to choke down one more Lean Cuisine becomes intolerable. Remember when you said, out loud, they tasted good? Soon the only remnants of the gym are the clothes in the back of the closet and that automatic deduction from the checking account every month, the buff strut a forgotten memory.

No matter how much time I spend working out, time and gravity assures that there are some areas that have reached the “no matter what you do it sags” stage. And when did the fact that I have to pee a little more frequently become the subject of a never ending barrage of TV commercials questioning the quality of my life? Let alone the ads for the couples sitting in those bathtubs OUTSIDE! dealing with the tragedy of one of those saggy bits I spoke of earlier. Remember: If this product does what it was designed to do for more than four hours, call your doctor. Our in my case an undertaker.

Because modes of thinking are contagious we allow the same things to happen in our spiritual life. We read a book or hear a speaker which energizes us and we vow to follow a new path. What happens? Gym Think. After a time the old manner, habits, of living reassert themselves and we drift back to where we started. Then a new book or teacher catches our attention and the cycle begins again. Break the cycle and BEGIN TODAY. The day will come for all, when this physical shell will fail, regardless of how many hours we spend working out and/or eating right. Remember Jim Fixx? But our essential nature, call it soul, cosmic conscious, feldercarb or whatever term appeals to you, is eternal. The work we do today stays with us forever. Decide today to place your feet on the path and let no later vicissitude shake your resolve. When Gym Think creeps in reject it by turning to God for strength and guidance. Just for today demonstrate prayer and meditation in your life, as if your life depended on it, for in fact it does. A twenty minute walk and a good multivitamin is OK to.