It Starts with the Mind

I love a good quote.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes about fitness/motivation/determination.

"Our health always seems much more valuable after we lose it." ~Unknown

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit." ~Aristotle

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live." ~Jim Rohen

"The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince."
~Vincent Lombardi

"We do not stop exercising because we grow old... we grow old because we stop exercising."
~Dr. Kenneth Cooper

"A healthy body is the guest chamber of the soul, a sick body is it's prison." ~Francis Bacon

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Oh... I have so many more good quotes and could go on and on. The great thing about a good quote is it is motivating and brings insight which can help change the direction of our lives. I know it does for me. In Ecclesiastes 12:11 it says... "The collected saying of the wise are like guidance from a shepherd." I realize the quotes above are not specifically in Scripture and are not His inspired Word or His direct revelation, but the principles are found there. (sowing/reaping, good stewardship, right thinking, discipline). Have you ever heard the idea that all truth is God's truth? For example... 2+2=4, but you can't specifically find a chapter and verse about it in the Bible. Just because it is not specifically in the Bible doesn't cease to make it true. There are many things in His creation that are His general revelation and are true. (grass is green, sky is blue). If it's true, then it's God's truth and we can be thankful for it. Anyway... a little tangent there.

My intended purpose for this post is remembering that what you think about is vitally important in shaping who you are. Your mind is so much part of being healthy physically and spiritually.

Search the Scripture and you will find giants of the faith continually in situations where they have to train their minds for battle. You see David over and over again in tough situations. He laments to God about his situation, then what does he do??? He REMEMBERS, he BRINGS TO MIND, he REHEARSES in his mind everything he knows to be true, good, right, excellent and praiseworthy about God and His promises. This is what gives him hope, determination and resolve to continue in good ways for the long haul.

I'd like to relate this concept to our physical health as well. You are a spiritual being no doubt, but you are just as much a physical being this side of heaven. (We'll have bodies in heaven too...perfect ones! Wooo-HOOooo!:O) .... Your body is an amazing creation of God and He made it to function best as we condition it through regular movement. Isn't that true? In today's society it is much harder to get physical conditioning than it was in times past. Jobs in times past were much more physically involved. Today we sit behind desks most of the time. We need to move!

I believe that what's missing from our workouts and what more times than not causes us to quit, is a lack of motivation. Motivation comes when we fill our minds with the WHYS! We forget to BRING TO MIND and REHEARSE all the wonderful benefits of exercising. To help get started take a look here at this great list of reasons WHY exercise is so awesome and needed. Put it up somewhere... not to make you feel guilty, but to hopefully motivate you to go for it everyday!

30 Good Reasons to Get Up and Do It... (from Stormie Omartian's book "Greater Health God's Way"...pg 143)

1. To increase your endurance.
2. To make you less susceptible to disease.
3. To strengthen your heart muscles.
4. To improve your complexion.
5. To reduce tension and enable you to handle stress more effectively.
6. To help you lose weight and keep it off.
7. To lift your spirit.
8. To improve your sleep.
9. To clear your mind and make you more alert by stepping up the flow of blood to the brain.
10. To relieve depression.
11. To elevate beta-endorphic levels in your blood, which reduces pain.
12. To help your nervous system to function more effeciently.
13. To increase self-esteem, confidence, and a feeling of self-worth.
14. To ease your heart's work load by causing your muscles to use oxygen more efficiently.
15. To relieve tension headaches.
16. To ease back problems as you strengthen core muscles.
17. To reduce neck and shoulder pain.
18. To purify your blood.
19. To aid digestion
20. To slow down the aging process!!! :O) :O)
21. To increase flexibility.
22. To cut addictive cravings.
23. To decrease cholestrol.
24. To balance your metabolism.
25. To reshape your body.
26. To improve circulation.
27. To make you more cheerful!!!
28. To help you regulate an out of control appetite.
29. To ease menstral cramps.
30. To relieve arthritis.

Think about it! The above list is TRUE about exercise. Continue to search out for yourself more good reasons to make exercise a lifestyle and add to this list. When you are tempted to quit, get back to your list and allow it to continue to transform the way you think about exercise. Here are a couple more good quotes to ponder on....

"Remember, you should have your mind ready for war when you train"...Bob Whlean

"Workouts are like brushing my teeth-- I don't think about them, I just do them. The decision has already been made." ...Patti Sue Plumer, U.S. Olympian

"The body does not want you to do this. As you run (exercise), it tells you to stop!... but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy... It's not age, it's not diet... it's the will to succeed." ...Jacquelinne Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon Champ

Be determined... you CAN do it!
~Donna