health

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He Was Just One Step Behind

We are all just one step ahead or one step behind someone else.

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We are either in a position to help someone who’s coming up behind us or to seek the advice of someone who’s already doing what we are about to do.

The other day I watched the Olympics 100 metre final with Usain Bolt and our Canadian kid, Andre De Grasse.

He pronounces his name “De Grass” but it should be pronounced “Degrassi” because of the Canadian TV show that made the name so popular. Even Usain Bolt, in an interview after the run, referred to him as “Degrassi”.

The whole way through the race Usain was just a step ahead of Andre. When it was over, they congratulated each other like big brother, little brother.

There was the sense that this young kid will be stepping into the shoes of the great runner, Usain Bolt.

This isn’t something that only athletes do.

All of us have opportunities to glean from people who are just a step ahead of us or help those who are coming up behind us.

I recently got a phone call from a friend who had a heart attack a couple of months ago. He had heard from my brother that I had had one four years ago. He wanted to ask me some questions as he was a step behind me.

We shared our stories of how the attacks went down, and then compared the medications we were taking. He had questions about how he was feeling and the side effects to some of the drugs.

He wanted to know what the future would hold for him, and I was enough of a step ahead to be able to give him some comfort.

It was interesting, though, as I reflected back. At first, all I remembered were the positive things – I remembered how easy the recovery was.

But as we talked and he shared some of his concerns, I remembered having some of those same thoughts. His experience jogged my memory.

But from my experience, I was able to dispel some of his concerns that could cause anxiety. Looking at me, one step ahead, he could have hope that it was going to be alright for him, too.

You know, it’s great to have that kind of relationship, where both people sense they are not alone, that someone else knows what they are going through. There is a feeling that you are part of a brotherhood, a fraternity that shares a common trait or quest or experience.

There are things that only those who’ve experienced what you’ve experienced can share together.

It gives you a sense that there are others who understand you, identify with how you feel, and know the kinds of thoughts you have, who you can go to to work through some of your questions.

Andre De Grasse and Usain Bolt, both draped in their reflective flags, walked arm in arm, while Usain whispered some words of encouragement to the man who was just one step behind him.

… and you know those words were good by the smiles on both of their faces.

Here’s the thing: We call this relationship mentoring and, no matter what you are experiencing in life, there is probably someone close by you who’s one step ahead or one step behind. Seek them out; it’s how we go forward, in life and with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Who has been your greatest mentor? Leave your comments below.

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I Lacked Discipline This Vacation

I’m realizing that I let myself go this year on my vacation. What I mean is I wasn’t very disciplined in exercising or in what I ate.

Candy Store

There are reasons for what led me to this, but the bottom line was I ate way too much junk food and didn’t get out biking nearly as much as I should have.

I don’t know why I didn’t look back half way through my vacation and change my actions to find some discipline, but I didn’t.

That’s the whole thing, isn’t it? I wasn’t disciplined enough to want to do anything about how I was living.

So why now? I’ve come to the end of my vacation and now I start to reflect on how unruly I’ve been in the areas I needed to keep together.

I think it’s natural that when we come to the end of something we start to reflect. For example, at the end of each year, TV networks and sports stations have their year-in-review, broadcasting their top ten sports moments, and the biggest news events of the year.

So, it’s natural to look back on my vacation and think, “Wow, Paul, you really let yourself go!”

I think I ate more candy in the last few weeks than I have all year leading up to this point. When it comes to exercise, this vacation I’ve biked less and golfed less than I have in quite a few years.

I could blame it on the heat, that relentless, energy draining humidity that zaps the life right out of you, that sun the beats down on you to the point where all you can do is lie on a beach chair, or couch and ask for someone to pass you the bonbons.

I could blame it on the weather, but I’m not going to. This was the hottest, sunniest, best vacation weather we have had in about six years. I’m not about to start complaining.

It didn’t help that there was a candy store by the beach that sold imported exotic candy at ridiculously low prices.

And it didn’t help that I stayed up late at night so that I didn’t get up early each day to bike in the cooler temperatures.

As I look back, I could have done a few things differently.

I could have been stronger; I could have thought more of the consequences. … I could have left my money in the cottage when I went for my evening walks to see the sunset.

Now here I am, on the verge of leaving my vacation, and having some remorse for how I conducted myself during the time I’ve been away.

I feel like one of the Canadian Olympians who had a disappointing finish in his last swim race. He said he had trained well, and prepared the best he could for the games. He was simply disappointed that all his training and preparations didn’t produce better results.

That’s me. I came into the vacation thinking I was in good shape. Somehow the different setting – the sun, sand and surf – called out to me to let loose.

And that I did. I’ll be rolling back into town soon … literally rolling in. Then I will get back to my discipline.

Here’s the thing: It’s easy to get off track in your time with God, especially when you change your setting or routine, like on vacation. When that does happen, don’t beat yourself up. Simply make moves to get back to spending quality time with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What gets you out-of-sync with your disciplines? Leave your comments below.

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Is Taking A Vacation Worth It?

My life is so overextended right now that I have to work extra hard just to get myself ready for vacation.

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Back when I was a child, and even a teen, when vacation time came around I could literally drop what I was doing and go.

Of course, in those days I had servants (also called parents) that did all the prep work for vacation. I was just along for the ride.

Family vacation was a bonus for me then anyway; I was already on vacation.

But now it’s a different story. In order to leave on vacation, I have to cover my bases, make sure people are in place, and that responsibilities are assigned.

Then there’s the issue of unfinished work.

The experts say that if you really want a rest, if you want to relax, you need to clear up the things you’ve been putting off. In other words, you need to catch up on your work so you can take a break.

The problem is we’re often behind on our work because we’re too tired and need a break.

It seems like a lose-lose situation. I need a break from work, but in order to do that I have to burn myself out before I go so that I have nothing left when I actually take my vacation.

My vacation then becomes a rest AND recuperation.

I have lots of projects that I should tackle before vacation and but there are particularly two things that will stare me in the face all throughout vacation if I don’t do them before I go.

One of those projects involves the desktop on my computer. It is strewn with files and folders, representing work that I need to file or finish.

The filing is not that difficult to accomplish; the time it will take is minimal. It’s the work I need to finish that has me reeling.

The work staring at me from my computer screen has two stages to it. It’s work I need to post to a website.

The first stage is the preparation. I need to get the work in a format that is ready to be posted … I’ve already been working on that.

The second stage involves posting it to the website. This part will take a long time. It’s a tedious, multi-step process for each file.

I remember one year going on vacation, and within an hour of leaving the house, I started feeling sick.

By the time we got to where we were staying the first night, I was sicker than I’d ever been in my life.

I think I had worked so hard getting myself ready for vacation that my body said, “That’s enough!” and it kind of shut down on me.

I was a couple of days into vacation before my body started to come around and I began feeling like myself again.

That seems counteractive to the whole idea of vacation.

Oh, for the days when I had servants to do all the work for me!

Here’s the thing: We tend to overextend ourselves, pushing hard for things, even when we don’t have the power to make them happen. We strive in our own power, and become exhausted, only in the end turning to God for the help He can provide. Why not go to Him first, and seek His wisdom, power and support? Don’t burn out in your own power.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What work or issue could you take to God, instead of wearing out in your own strength? Leave your comments below.

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My Hockey Season is Finally Over

We just celebrated Canada’s birthday, and this morning I finally hung up my skates for the season.

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That’s Canada … hockey till July! No wonder some folks down south believe we live in igloos. Those same people probably think we are still skating outside in July.

This is actually the latest I’ve played hockey in several years. There are other things that get in the way, things like golf and mountain biking.

I only have time for so much; something had to give.

I will tell you though, it’s kind of nice showing up to the arena wearing sandals, shorts and a T-shirt … and I’d much rather come out of the arena to temperatures of +25 C with the sun high in a blue sky than -25 C with the wind howling and the snow flying.

It was time to stop; the numbers were getting low. I guess people have other things to do on a Saturday morning.

We only had three aside and two goalies yesterday. It was like playing overtime in the NHL, except we did it for an hour and 10 minutes!

We even made a trade part way through the game, and my team acquired my son in a one-for-one trade.

We made a killing on the trade, and improved our team and chances by a considerable amount.

For the last game of the season, it was nice to be on the same side as my son and set him up for a few goals.

Normally, we are on opposite teams because he refuses to put a white jersey in his hockey bag. … The teams are usually chosen by light and dark sweaters, so he’s on the other side most of the time.

Before I even had kids, I remember dreaming about being able to play hockey with my children when they became adults.

Since I was in my 30’s before we started, I wondered if I would still be able to skate by the time they reached an age where we could play on the same level.

Well, it’s kind of nice now. I just turned 60, my son is 25, and we were able to dangle some moves together that hypnotized the goalie.

Lily has mixed emotions about the end of the season.

On the one hand, I leave to play at 6:30 in the morning so it’s no hassle for her because she’s still sleeping. But on the other hand, now that the last game has been played, I just added all my hockey sweaters, socks and underwear to the pile of laundry … laundry just increased by a few loads this week.

Without hockey on Saturday, I’ll be able to get at things earlier on Saturday mornings – Lily should be happy. She’ll have more of my time to coerce me into projects and tasks around the house.

Then there is some vacation time up ahead and there’s not much room for hockey when the beach is taking up most days.

It’s a good time for a break, to focus on some other things, and do some dreaming of next season.

Here’s the thing: Different seasons or times of year bring different schedules and commitments. In the changes, your time with God can get put on the shelf. As one thing stops and something else starts, be sure that you keep your time with God – that season never ends.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What seasonal activity has impacted your devotional time? Leave your comments below.

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I Was A Little Overfed This Father’s Day

I’m feeling pretty stuffed today. This year Father’s Day really took a toll on me.

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For years on Dad’s day I would be treated to a special meal of some kind. Either we would BBQ steak in the backyard or we would go to a restaurant for a meal that would be easy on the work but heavy on the pocketbook. The festivities would be over by mid afternoon and I would still be able to get in my Sunday afternoon nap.

Well, the years have come and gone. We’ve done different things for Father’s Day, but this year had a new twist.

Instead of the family gathering around Father, Dad went to the family.

The festivities started right after church when I was presented with a brownie by one of our teens. All I did was be a dad.

As I shoved the whole thing in my mouth in one shot (just in case someone tried to sneak a bite), I thought maybe we should do this every Sunday. We could have different groups in the church present dads with brownies – you know, one week it could be the little children, the next week it might be the seniors.

Another week could be the wives … well, on second thought, maybe that wouldn’t work so well.

Sticking to Father’s Day this year, I had my brownie and next up was lunch with our son, Mike.

We met at a restaurant because Lily and I were going to our cottage for a day, and it would be easier to pick up and leave town after lunch.

We had a nice meal; I was pretty full after my triple decker club sandwich and, of course, the brownie I had after church.

Now if I had have gone biking after that I might have been ready for an evening meal, but all we did was sit in a car and drive for a few hours to Toronto to meet with our daughter, Karlie.

Those days of having the family all come together where Dad resides has gone by the wayside. We’re too spread out for that.

We arrived right at dinner time, but I didn’t feel like I needed any dinner. I felt that my lunch meal was still in my stomach and, because I didn’t get my nap, my body had put a stoppage to the work of breaking down my meal.

I could have skipped dinner at that point, but my daughter, Karlie, had been waiting all day for a nice meal with her dad and she was starving.

So out we went for another restaurant meal and more food. This time I even got talked into having dessert. It was seeing the people eating at the table next to me that talked me into it.

Well, when we finally rolled out of the restaurant, we got back in the car and continued on our journey to the cottage.

It was quite a Father’s Day … it was a lot of food. It was great being with both my kids!

Here’s the thing: Your Heavenly Father wants to see you, to meet with you, so much so that He will show up whenever and wherever you will meet with Him. Just make sure you show up. Don’t just take it for granted that He’s around and close by. He’s looking forward to sharing a meal with you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What did you do for Father’s Day this year? Leave your comment below.

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Bald People Don’t Have Issues With Hats

I wouldn’t say this often, but there are times it’s better to be bald … like when you need to cover your head with a hat.

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It sounds kind of strange, but I’m having a bad hair day today and the only thing that is going to help it right now is a hat.

I know that some people struggle with their hair every day but I don’t usually have issues with mine. I have the kind of hair that pretty much stays where I put it in the morning. And for most of the time, that’s a good thing.

In the last ten years, I’ve noticed my hair has thinned out a bit, but it still performs the way I want it to … most of the time.

The good thing about hair like mine is that I don’t have to comb it throughout the day to keep it in place. My hair knows where it’s to go and it remains there all day.

When I was a youth pastor, the students in my group found this curious at times. They would come and mess up my hair just to test it. All I would do is give my hair a few quick flicks of my fingers and it was back in place.

If I went out into a wind storm, same thing. I would just run my fingers through my hair and I was good to go.

The downside with this type of hair is its strength: my hair stays put.

When I put on a hat, my hair forms to the hat and when I take it off, it stays that way.

After a night of sleep, often my hair needs a little coaxing to get into place. But if I’m just going out to play hockey, I will slip on a ball cap and go.

After hockey and a shower, I usually don’t put my hat back on. But today I did. My hair was a little damp; I threw on the hat and went home. At home I didn’t need the hat so I took it off.

That’s when the comments started arriving fast and furiously.

“Dad, your hair is wild today,” my daughter said with a laugh. She was home for a quick visit and after her vicious comments, I was glad it was a quick visit.

Lily chimed in and said, “She’s right, dear. Your hair is something else today!” and chuckled.

I had hat hair and I really didn’t care about it that much. I just wished my family was a little more supportive.

Later in the day, I was stepping out to pick up some wings for dinner. My son was home at the time, and as I went to the door he simply said, “Uh, Dad, you better wear a hat”, with a smirk on his face.

Lily just laughed. I slapped the cap on and headed out the door.

I just wonder how it would have gone if I had have made those comments to Lily about her hair.

Here’s the thing: Our minds and hearts perform much like my hair does. My hair forms to where I put it or what I put on it. Your mind and heart form to what you put in it. So if you want a mind and a heart that is forming to God, feed your mind the things of God: read his Word and spend time with Him in prayer.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kinds of things do you put in your mind to form it? Leave your comments below.

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Make Time To Climb The Stairs

From time to time I republish posts I have written in the past. This is a repost of an article I wrote in April 2013

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. 

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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.”  

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 mute 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. 

My daughter has made this climb the last two years, first doing it in just over 17 minutes and this year in under 16 minutes. I get out of breath just linking about 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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If It’s Out Of Sight, It’s Out Of My Mind

There is a saying “out of sight, out of mind” and it is particularly true with me. If something is out of my sight, there’s a good chance I will forget about it.

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Case in point: I’m not a great guitarist, but I like to play my guitar a bit. I used to keep it in its case, but I would never see it so I never thought of playing it.

Eventually I got a stand so my guitar now sits in our family room in plain sight, creating a much greater chance that I’ll pick it up and strum a little.

I need to do that with a lot of things because if I don’t see them there’s a good chance I will forget about them.

Maybe that’s why I have so many papers on my desk. I’m afraid that if I put those papers somewhere, like in a filing cabinet or file folder, I will forget about them and not get at the work they represent.

Lily doesn’t really like my “out of sight, out of mind” system for getting things done. For her it creates clutter.

The other day there was a new piece of clutter: I received my renewal for our car licence plates. I don’t need to renew for a couple of months, and since I don’t like giving the government my money earlier than I have to, the way I operate means the renewal form will be on our kitchen table for some time.

Now maybe right about now you are sympathizing with Lily, but here’s the flip side …

A week ago I was getting low on Bisoprolol – it’s a beta blocker, and one of the pills I take for my heart. So it’s kind of important that I don’t run out of the stuff.

What I do when I get low is I put the bottle on the kitchen table to remind me to call the pharmacy for more. I can’t just call in at any time, however, because my insurance company, who pays part of the cost, doesn’t want me to start stockpiling the little pink pills. I have to wait until I’m down to 4 or 5 pills.

Since I load my pill dispenser every Saturday for the next week, I have to have that bottle on the kitchen table for a few days.

So there the bottle sat, prominently displayed. … The problem was that we were having company and so Lily moved the bottle.

She moved it out of sight which meant it was out of mind for me. I never thought of it until Saturday rolled around and I was filling up my dispenser.

Not only could I not find my Bisoprolol bottle, I had forgotten I needed to order more!

So Saturday morning I was scurrying around trying to find my pills and then trying to get my order in a.s.a.p. so I didn’t miss a day.

We’ll be keeping those bottles on the table from now on.

Here’s the thing: If you want to be consistent in spending time with God, keep your materials (Bible, devotional book, journal) in plain sight, ready to go for when you meet with God. Being able to see them will remind you that you have an appointment to keep with the Lord.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to ensure you keep your time with God each day? Leave your comment below.

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I Got Sick Anyway

I did everything right and I still got sick! Has that ever happened to you? Well, that’s where I ended up.

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My wife came down with a flu of all flu’s. I’ve never seen her down for so long before. It hit her quick and it hit her hard.

Lily was in bed for two days, and dragged herself around the house for over a week. She even said that maybe next year she would get the flu shot … that on it’s own tells me just how sick she was!

This was not something I was going to catch if I could help it. So I did something I haven’t done often in our 30 years of marriage: I slept in the spare room.

There was just no way that I was going to breathe in what she was breathing out. I would get infected as I slept, completely unaware of what was happening to me.

It kind of reminds me of two guys back in college who decided they were going to prank their neighbours next to them in our dorm.

Their room was just on the other side of the wall and there happened to be a hole in that wall … on one side anyway. The guys made a small hole in their room at the same place.

During the night as the neighbours slept in bliss, the guys blew baby powder into their room. The neighbours next door never knew what hit them.

In the morning they woke up to their room covered in what looked like fresh fallen snow. The white powder was everywhere, on the beds, in their hair. … I think there was retaliation the next night.

The thing was the powder was silent. It came over them when they slept; they never noticed it at all.

And there was no chance I was having my immune system hijacked by Lily turning towards me and breathing flu germs in my face all night.

She realized this flu was not something that should be passed on and volunteered to sleep in the spare room for another four nights.

That’s five nights we slept in separate rooms while being in the same house. That has never happened before!

We did all the right things. I stayed away even when she desperately wanted a hug, just some human contact … well, I sort of hugged her at arms length. I was also washing my hands like a surgeon – I hope surgeons wash their hands as much as I did.

In the end, she slowly came back to the land of the living, yet still low on energy. She seemed to have recovered enough for me to let her back in our bed.

And then it happened. I was drinking lots of water – tons of it – getting plenty of sleep, exercising and taking care of myself. But I woke up one morning with a scratchy throat.

I didn’t end up as sick as she had been, but for all my purposeful, proactive prevention, the sickness didn’t escape me. I’ll be okay.

Here’s the thing: Sin has this kind of ability to sneak up on us. We can do all the right things, stay clear of triggers, give a wide birth to temptation. But when we are not looking, when we least expect it, sin can creep in when we thought we were in the clear. We can never let our guard down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has snuck up on you, even when you took precautions? Leave your comment below.

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How To Keep Your Lights Working

I don’t know what we’d do without lights. I guess we would all go to bed earlier … and wake up later.

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Lights keep us working late; they keep us going when we run out of daylight.

Recently I’ve realized that I have lights IN me. They’re called electrolytes.

Actually, I’ve know about them for many years, but recently I clued into something about them that is making a difference in my exercising.

For some time I’ve been having muscle problems when I play hockey or do anything strenuous. What happens is my muscles in the lower half of my body feel like they have been exercised to the max and I just can’t get any more out of them.

That would be understandable at the end of a workout or near the end of a game of hockey, but unfortunately it happens to me very soon after I start exercising or on my first shift playing hockey.

I thought it was a reaction to the medication I take. I even wrote about that and you can read that post (here).

But it’s more than the medication. What my research is revealing to me is I need more lights or “lytes”, that is, electrolytes.

My son just laughs at me like, “How can you be so old and not know this?”

You see when I play hockey I don’t drink any water. I’m sweating tons of it but not replenishing any.

In other words, I use lots of electrolytes but I’m not putting any back into my body.

And I really need them so that my muscles don’t seize up!

Over the last couple of months I’ve been experimenting. I’ve been loading up on water before I play hockey and, amazingly enough, during the game as well.

I actually take a water bottle out to the bench, just like most of the other guys. I guess I’m not special after all, just normal like everyone else.

This hydrating myself has worked pretty well. I’ve noticed a marked difference but it’s not perfect. I still have shifts where my muscles feel all worn out.

So today I tried something different. I thought maybe I needed more electrolytes than what I get in just plain water. I decided to guzzle a bottle of Gatorade before the game.

Well, I would have drank Gatorade because my son works for Pepsi. But the vending machine only sold Powerade so I downed a bottle before I hit the ice.

As I said before, I don’t know what we’d do without “lytes”. This electrolyte-packed drink kept my muscles from barking at me the whole game. Not once did I get a message to stop skating and take a rest.

I think I’m on to something here and I’ll keep the experiment going until I come to a definite conclusion.

Oh ya, and I’ll keep taking a bottle of water out to the bench.

Here’s the thing: Like with your body, spiritually you can only give so much before you need to replenish. The warning signs that you are not getting enough spiritual nutrition will be a lack of love for God and a heaping pile of unconfessed sin. To replenish, you need to read God’s Word, but not just read the words, soak them in, ask questions and personalize what you read. Your spirit will be renewed and you will be able to keep going, staying strong spiritually.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What problem have you been trying to find an answer to? Leave your comment below.