exercise

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Why Keeping Secrets Can Hurt You

I need you to keep this blog a secret … at least from my doctor. Today is my birthday and there are probably going to be a few surprises. But there will also be a few things that I am sure of today.

Paul's Birthday cake

While I have no idea what presents I will receive, I do know what cake I will be eating on my birthday. It’s the same every year. And just to confirm my already confident prediction, I saw Lily baking it.

Now the reason we have to keep this from my doctor is because of the sugar and fat content of this cake. All cakes fall into the “not healthy” category of food groups, but my cake probably ranks up there higher than most.

The ingredients are simple: angel food cake, whip cream and raspberries. When the cake has been baked, it is cut in half and both halves are hollowed out just a bit. Then in a bowl you mix the raspberries into the whip cream to make the “icing”.

Once that’s done, you put a ton of the “icing” into the hollowed out parts of the cake and then put the two halves back together.

Finally, you slather the outside of the cake (and I mean slather it on thick) with the whip cream mixture and you’re done.

Now is your mouth watering already? . . .  Mine is, and it’s only 7:30 am when I’m writing this piece.

So, you see, this is not the kind of thing you share with your doctor.

When he asks how you are feeling, you say, “Very well, thank you.”  When he asks, “Have you been getting your exercise?” you say, “I’ve been biking three times a week.” When he queries how you have been eating, you DON’T mention the cake. You just say, “I’ve been trying to eat more vegetables lately.”

Now I only get this cake once a year. It’s strictly a birthday cake, not an “I thought I’d bake your favourite cake Friday”. But this year I got a bonus.

For the first time in six years, Karlie was home for her birthday and Lily, like usual, was all geared up to bake her a cake. But to everyone’s surprise, and my delight, Karlie asked for my birthday cake.

So I’ve had a couple of pieces already this year; just as good as ever, and double reason not to let this leak out to the doctor.

By the way, it’s not all bad. I’ll be working that cake off today by stripping the paint off my deck at the cottage. It will be like I ate only vegetables today.

Here’s the thing: In life we can keep things from others. We might do it to look good or because we would be embarrassed or ashamed if others knew. But just like my birthday cake will contribute to clogging my arteries and adding on a few pounds, keeping things from others only hurts yourself. You can try to keep things from God, and try to ignore the fact that He knows everything. You can even pretend that it’s all a secret. But you are only hurting yourself. Admit your sin to God; don’t try to hide it from Him. He knows anyway … just like my doctor will probably get wind of this blog.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has keeping something from others hurt you in the long run? I’d really like to hear from you;, you can leave your comment below.

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I’d Rather Take The Stairs

Does anybody like to climb stairs anymore? Has anybody ever liked to climb stairs? I’m just wondering because it seems like people try to avoid them if they can.

The other day, I was doing a hospital visit and my wife Lily was with me. As we got close to the elevator, she said, “We are not taking the stairs, are we?” I looked at her and replied, “You take the elevator and I’ll meet you on the 6th floor.”

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She answered that she didn’t want to climb the stairs because she was in high heels and a heavy coat. I’ve never climbed stairs in high heels before, but as I recall, my heels don’t normally hit the ground when I climb, so it should be a moot point.

Lil isn’t a wuss so she took the stairs with me, but she was lagging behind a little. I would chock it up to those darn high heels but her huffing and puffing gave away that she was really just out of stair climbing shape.

For the last year or so I’ve been taking the stairs more often. It’s not because I like climbing stairs; it’s because it helps me get closer to my daily walking goal. And I’ve learned a few things in taking the stairs over the elevator:

One thing I’ve learned is if you dislike crowds and being in close quarters with people, take the stairs – you’ll have the place to yourself! When I take the stairs at the hospital, 90% of the time I never encounter anyone else. The other 10% I just see hospital staff.

If you want to sing or whistle while you get to your destination, take the stairs. Not only will no one hear you, the acoustics in the stairwell really make for a rich, full sound!

If you need some quiet to think, take the stairs. The only sound you will hear is your own heavy breathing as you round the 5th floor.

I’m not petitioning for more people to take the stairs – I like to whistle undisturbed when I climb. I’m just saying there’s more to taking the stairs than giving you a heart attack.

There are some people who like to climb stairs. In Toronto, at the CN Tower, they’ve been running a fundraiser stair climb for 23 years. They get about 6,400 people walking up the 1,776 steps (that’s 144 flights!) every year. I know a guy who’s done it.

For the most part though, multi-floor buildings promote the use of elevators and escalators. The stairwells are usually in out-of-the-way places reserved for emergencies … and then good luck finding them!

Of course, the older we get, the more we start looking for those elevators. I’ve heard that 70 year olds can spot an elevator at 60 paces, but still not be able to read what button to push without their glasses!

I figure I’m not there yet, so I better keep using the stairs.

Here’s the thing: We gravitate to what’s fast and easy until that is all we can do. Becoming more like Christ takes time and work. If we’re always looking for the fast and easy, we may never look much like Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do the hard way just to not give in to the easy? Leave your comment below.

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I’ve Really Let Myself Go

Not very often, on rare occasions, every once in a while, I’ve seen a picture of someone and thought, “Man you’ve really let yourself go!” It’s like they just stopped caring about themselves and let age and gravity do their thing.

I feel like I’ve let myself go lately. It’s only been for the last couple of weeks so there isn’t much to notice. But the bothersome thing is, how easy its been to start letting myself go.

Paul's pic

There are a couple of things that have got me off my game lately: one is busyness and the other is sore body parts. Where I have let myself go is keeping up with my exercising and staying on top of my computer maintenance.

If you were thinking that I’ve gone all puffy, my hair was greasy and down to my shoulders and I hadn’t shaved in a week, you can dismiss that image from you mind (ha, maybe you can’t now).

My appearance hasn’t really changed. I’m still showering every day and shaving when I have to, but I’ve not been doing my daily walks, aerobics or weight lifting.  I know that it takes three weeks to make a habit, but I’m afraid that I’m forming a new habit in record time!

I guess, it’s natural.  When things are let go and unattended, they don’t get better. A lawn gets weeds, a car breaks down, food goes bad . . . when you let them go.

My computer has gone that way as well. My busyness has left me with 33 files and folders strewn all over my desktop, and emails mounting in my inbox. I’ve had too many other pressing things to keep up with.

It all started with a sore knee and elbow I somehow picked up from playing hockey. Nothing serious, but they were bothering me just enough that I thought I better rest them rather than push too hard.

After a few days of non-activity, I started to get pretty good at finding other reasons or excuses for not exercising … and that’s when I stumbled onto this busy thing.

The busy excuse has been working like a charm even after my knee started feeling better. I also found I could use it for a number of other things as well, like my computer.

Now here I am, two weeks into creating my new habit of letting myself go, and the things that were making me busy are completed. I don’t have an excuse now. I could say that I’m always busy but I know I’m not too busy to exercise and execute files and emails.

I’m thinking now that I have to stop creating a habit of letting myself go and start creating a habit of getting back to what I should be doing. But one habit seems so much easier than the other.

Even though I’m a little busy today – I have to travel out of town, and have a few things I need to do before I go – I’m going to get back to my exercises and clean up some files starting today.

Here’s the thing: Things come along to break up your routine of spending time with God.  Sometimes they are legitimate reasons, and they may be unavoidable. But it becomes easy to let them become excuses to keep you away from your time with God. Don’t keep using the same excuse or make up a new one. Decide today to get back to your time with God. He’s waiting for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is your most used excuse to get out of things?  Leave your comment below.

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Maybe “Jersey Shore” is on to Something

I have never really been into fitness, though I have always exercised in some fashion.  You see, I don’t like lifting weights or doing aerobic exercises.  You wouldn’t find me taking out a gym membership or dressing in tight clothes, wearing a head band, moving in front of a TV, and following an instructor who has way too much energy and enthusiasm for one person.

I’d rather play hockey, ride my bike on trails, or have my golf clubs with me when I go for a walk.  In fact, if there is some kind of game associated with an exercise, there’s a good chance that I would enjoy it.

But for the last two weeks, and at least for the next 14, you can picture me in those tight fitting exercise clothes (please don’t) doing some movements, or pumping iron, or going for power walks without golf clubs on my back.  That’s right, I’m a fitness guy now.

It’s not that I want to be a fitness guy, but the cardiac rehab clinic is trying its hardest to turn me into one.  Every day I have to go for a power walk, as well as either do an aerobic workout or weight training.  They give me Sundays off … small comfort.

I haven’t even met with the nutritionist yet, but when I do at the end of the month, I’m sure she’ll slap me with a few dietary restrictions that will officially turn me into a nuts and berries kind of guy.  She just better not pull meat from my diet!  (I don’t consider it a meal if it doesn’t include meat.)

Thankfully, when I exercise in a way that I enjoy – like playing hockey or mountain biking – I can count that.  That’s why on Saturday, instead of doing my thirty minute aerobic exercise, and going for a thirty minute power walk, I went for a two hour bike ride through the woods near our house.  I listened to tunes playing through my ear buds, took in the amazing view of the coloured leaves, and negotiated the slippery, leaf covered trails.  It was an awesome ride!

With everything I’m being instructed to do in a day, I’m starting to feel like I’m on the reality show “Jersey Shore”.  A typical day for Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is GTL which stands for Gym, Tan, Laundry.  He doesn’t have much time for anything else in his day.  I’m beginning to feel the same way!

I know in time I will fit these new things into my daily pattern of life and they won’t feel as forced as they do right now.

Here’s the Thing:  This past Sunday, I spoke about giving control of one’s life to the Holy Spirit.  It has to be something I give myself to on a continual basis or I’ll take back control.  In order for the Holy Spirit to influence my thoughts, words, decisions and actions, I have to allow Him to be in control every day.

That means I have to make some adjustments in life to allow Him room to direct.  That’s not easy.  It means other things might need to be eliminated, or at very least rearranged.  It takes a while to discipline oneself to accommodate those changes, but in time, being controlled by the Holy Spirit will not seem forced.  Rather, it will be my natural pattern of life.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  What needs to change in your daily routine to allow the Holy Spirit control? Leave your comment below.