Have you ever noticed how much physical fitness equipment is sold around the beginning of each New Year? It’s mind boggling. We all know why—everyone’s making New Year’s resolutions to make improvements in their physical appearance and eating habits. They all want to make a change for the better. We’ve all seen the ads that run on TV this time of year—Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, etc. Everyone’s pumped up to make a change right? Wrong. After a few weeks of “pumping iron” and getting used to eating the “right” kind of food, one by one they fall off the wagon and slip right back into their old habits. The statistics are not good for success stories here. While everyone starts out the same way with the right intentions, only the strong willed seem to survive to experience noticeable change. By the time summer rolls around, that stair stepper or treadmill machine is either in a garage sale or waiting at the curb for trash pick up. Why? What happened? What’s missing?
In a word, what’s missing is commitment. Another way of putting it is, that “healthy person” they were trying to become wasn’t worth the effort needed to get there, plain and simple. The willpower to change just wasn’t there. It had nothing to do with understanding the benefits of good health or the risks of bad health. People just have a way of justifying decisions even if they’re not in their best interest. The whole idea of getting in shape and being healthy was something they could do “down the road”. That’s how doing nothing about good health is rationalized in people’s minds. Can you believe it? It’s true isn’t it?
What you’ve just witnessed is the birth of commitment’s ugly cousin in the opposite corner: laziness, the easy way out, anything to avoid taxing yourself physically. Inactivity rules. The truth is that it’s not the easy way—it’s the devil in disguise. The key to being as healthy as you can be is, in a word discipline.
To get into the right frame of mind mentally and emotionally to take on life, you need to start by taking care of yourself physically.
We’re talking about your health here! If you can’t do it on your own, then get help. Check with your doctor before you do anything. BUT DO IT NOW! Don’t let procrastination take you down. There may not be as many tomorrows as you think. And yesterday is a cancelled check. Have you ever heard of somebody getting something because they wanted it bad enough? How badly do you want to be in the best health of your life? How badly do you want your family to have the best life has to offer? How badly do you want to be a success in life?
If you want any of these things as badly as I did, you’ll do something about it. GET IN SHAPE! Make an effort to eat healthier foods and exercise. Time is the enemy of all of us. We have only a limited amount of it. “If I can do it, anyone can!” Make the change now and stay on course!
Photo Credits- My Social Blend