If I'm being honest with myself, I have asked myself "what happened" hundreds of times over the past 10 years. There are some obvious explanations such as poor diet, sleeping and exercise habits. There are also some less visible explanations that I've illuded to in previous blogs. To put it bluntly; things have happened in the past four years that have drained me mentally and spiritually and have manifested physically.
Let me take the liberty of saying that counselors and mental health professionals can be some of the worst self-caretakers. I have many a counselor friend who are wonderful with regards to helping others. We all say the right things and in most cases, we do the right things. But at times, we avoid some of the issues and stressors in our lives because we're busy analyzing and working through the issues in the lives of clients, family and friends.
What I've had to come to grips with over the last two years is that being a counselor does not mean that I am exempt from feeling sad or stressed. It also doesn't make me perfect with regards to handling stress. I will be the first to admit that I have mishandled some of the stressful things with which I've been faced in recent years. At times, I bottled things up. I poured myself into service work or issues my friends or family members have been faced with. I've gone on a few shopping sprees, and I've also done quite a bit of eating along the way. All of these "vices" are simply evidence of the fact that I must face the things that are going on, change the things I can and accept the things I cannot change.
There is a verse in The Bible that says "Faith without works is dead". This doesn't mean that I should get in the way of what God has ordained, but it does mean that certain things are going to require movement on my part. Weight loss and fitness is one of those things.
A couple of weeks ago, I ran into a friend of mine whose life's work revolves around fitness and healthy living. She sweetly, yet bluntly reminded me of the goals I've set and the "good game" I've been talking but have yet to truly follow through with. She also reminded me that the choice is mine. She invited me to meet with her and ended by saying, "If you choose not to live healthy, that's on you". Talk about a reality check and Divine Intervention. You see the ironic, or shall I say divine, thing is I've been talking about going back to Weight Watchers or rejoining a gym or doing something to get back on track with weight loss. Though I've maintained my weight for a couple of years, I'm no where near what I should weigh and my body is starting to remind me in the form of health problems that my weight is unacceptable.
So in summary, I'm thankful. I'm thankful for the divine favor that has been placed in my life and the awesome relationship I have with God. The fact that He divinely places me around people and in cirmcumstances that push me to reach my potential is something I nor any of us should take for granted. Let us not wait until something catastophic or tragic such as loss of a loved one or job, financial stress, broken relationship or illness happens to listen to God and move. It is time to live by this simple model:
No comments:
Post a Comment