Future Vision

How would life differ if we no longer had our sight, the vision to see what is before us as we move across a room, read a book, or drive our cars?  I dare say it would be considerably more difficult. Vision also has a much broader application, that of seeing ourselves or others in a future state.  It is my belief that many of us have a much more clouded vision when we take it in this direction.  Why do we have difficulty seeing through the clouds of the future?

I would assert that there are likely many reasons for this, but primarily it stems from a narrow perspective.  As we age our field of vision narrows and this accelerates at certain points or as a result of an acquired condition.  The same holds true for our broader vision.  Rather than looking forward broadly seeing the possibilities and the potential for a very rewarding future we get bogged down with the acquired conditions of our past history.  Yes, these form who we are, and much of this history can be a positive to build upon, but when we continue to look too intently behind us at the the problems of our past, our future vision becomes diminished.

To build a more positive vision of your future it is important to recognize those historical markers that are holding us back, and then cut loose the ropes that anchor us to that portion of our past.  When we enter a relationship with God this is, in a sense, what we are doing.  We give our sins (anchors) over to Him, and look forward to His guidance and the hope of a brighter future with Him.  This principle can also be applied to our faith, family, fitness, finance and more as we recognize the things that hold us back, and begin looking forward to the transformed person that we hope to be.

 From this vision we can then build a plan to achieve this new vision of ourselves; healthier, happier, more at peace.  To do so we must recognize that the future vision we establish is not an overnight change but a destination at the other end of a journey.  Mariners set out of port with a destination in mind and as they cross the oceans they often will not set a direct course knowing the challenges that may affect their journey.  Rather they will take the best course which may be a bit more conservative or appear to be somewhat more circuitous, and then as they make their passage there will be numerous course corrections to account for obstacles, currents and changing weather conditions.

We can learn from this too.  Chart your course, understand that it may not be direct, and it may not be the fastest.  Set sail toward an empowered and improved you today, and Do Well to take the journey and course correct frequently as the winds of resistance blow against you.  You can take charge, you can reach for your vision.  Push away from the dock today and pursue your future vision of yourself, always in Christ. 

Staying on Course

We are now just over a month and a half into the new year, and approximately a week ago we hit the date where research indicates that most people have dropped all pretense of chasing their weight loss or fitness goals.  Why is it that we have no staying power?  The sad reality is that we do not equip ourselves with the tools to stick with it when we find things getting difficult,  This is not only the case as we deal with our fitness/weight loss goals but any goal you may have can face the same fate.

I want to begin to share with you a few tools that can be helpful in your quest for greater fitness, but also can be translated into many other areas of life.

1) Educate yourself about your goal.  Think about why it is important for you to accomplish your goal, and visualize the outcome.  Many high performers in sports and other areas use creative visualization as a technique to guide their performance.  Beyond the visualization; by reading, watching, or listening to information about the particular goal you are chasing you will learn of the potential pitfalls others have faced and how they overcame the obstacles.  Educating yourself can also provide you with new tools or techniques to reach your goal

2)  Recognize that "Rome wasn't built in a day", and neither was the situation you are in now.  It is going to take time to reach your goals.  Have you set a realistic time frame to achieve your goal?  It is my belief that most people set far too aggressive goals and this sets them up for failure and discouragement.  Be realistic and set not only that ultimate goal that you can visualize but some intermediate steps as well.

3)  Give yourself a break!  Don't start out by trying to do everything 7 days a week and for maximum time frames.  Small changes add up and even multiply your efforts over time.  Perhaps you start out with a 15 minute time frame that is blocked off and then you "sneak in" other smaller chunks of time toward your desired end. This also applies to the changes in your diet or your workday planning, small changes applied consistently begin to multiply your results.

4)  Keep a record.  This serves multiple purposes in that it creates a personal accountability, establishes a positive visual stimulus, and points out trends that can either be positive or negative.  There is a reason that the baseball cards of my youth had stats printed on the back.  Those stats let us know how our favorite player was doing from year to year.  This is also evident in business, it has been said that "if you can't measure it, you can't manage it."  This again translates across fields and can work in a number of arenas.

5) Have an accountability group or partner.  Being a part of something bigger than yourself helps us maintain focus, gain encouragement, and occasionally holds us to the line.  This is one of the beautiful things about the church that was established by Jesus death, burial, and resurrection.  God in his unlimited wisdom knew that we would need to be a part of something more than ourselves.  It is also evident in many other areas of life, why have organizations like Weight Watchers flourished over the years?  People need people so they may learn from one another, be encouraged or admonished appropriately.

I hope you will take a look at these tools and see how they may apply to your situation.  Then put one or all of them to use.  With this I bid you a wonderful week ahead to go out and Do Well!

Routine or Rut-ine?

Have you ever noticed that within the word routine is hidden the letters you also need to spell rut?

Routines are good for us.  They bring order to our life along with a degree of certainty and knowing what to expect.  All of these are positive, but do we get so wrapped up in the routine that it becomes stale or mundane?  If you are anything like me that can become the case.  Before we know it we are doing nothing but going through the motions for no other reason but to mark them from our list.

It is at this point that the routine has become a RUT.  What do we know about ruts?  If we think of some of the country roads, they will become rutted by the traffic and if a spark of change ( road crew) doesn't do something about it the rut only gets deeper.  As a rut deepens it becomes harder to get out of and if it gets too deep we become stuck.  If we are stuck then we are not getting any results from our efforts.

Personally I believe I have fallen into some ruts in my life.  How about you?  Is it time to make some changes in our routines?  For me it is, and if you recognize a rut forming in your routine then I strongly suggest shaking up the routine.  It doesn't have to be drastic, but it cannot remain the same.

In Matthew 6:31-34 Jesus reminds us not to worry about everything "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." (NKJV)  If we will start with this thoughr at the top of our priority list then He will guide us through the rest. 

Go out this week with Christ first and then let Him take control of the routines of our life, that we May DO WELL.