Healthy Habits

(puatraining.com)

It’s easy enough to list them out and expound on why they’re healthy habits.

(human-movement.com)

Exercise – we all need exercise, even those of us who consider it a chore. Actually we’re probably the ones who need it most. Exercise strengthens our muscles, helps rid us of unwanted fat, give us energy, releases endorphins in our brains, relieves stress and lets us prove to ourselves just how strong we really are. What’s not to like about it? Yet, many of us don’t.

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Clean eating – logical, common sense. When we eat “junk food” or convenience foods, we’re filling our bodies with chemicals and toxins that can’t lead to anything good except a temporarily content belly. Even our belly complains eventually. That kind of eating leads to more body fat, which leads to other health problems. It gives way to becoming sluggish and we lack desire to do anything. Eating real foods that don’t count on chemicals for flavor and other addictive traits contributes to healthier bodies that serve us better.

(theguardian.com)

Adequate sleep – we know this, our bodies need to be well-rested to perform at their best! Yet so many of us toss and turn well into the night, only to glare at the blaring alarm clock just as we finally enter that restful phase of sleep. We need to rejuvenate like we’re suppose to! I’m preaching to the choir leader here, because I’m up late with the rest of you. But, we know better.

A list of healthy habits could quite long, but this next one could potentially be the healthiest habit we can adopt: thankfulness. Can we make a habit of being thankful? Can we become grateful for all we have instead of daydreaming about all we want?

Think about it. If we purposefully wake up every single morning and reach for that attitude of gratitude before we even put on our glasses, before we stumble to the bathroom, before we throw the covers off – what benefits could we quickly see unfolding in our day?

(crosscards.com)

Every November we pull out our lists of what we’re thankful for and post them on social media for all the world to see. And, yay – sharing them is great! But, what if this year, we put a little more pondering into our gratitude? It’s pretty easy to write out a list of things we thank God for, perhaps even getting carried away with how long our list is becoming. If while we’re writing out that list, or even just composing it in our minds, we actually take the time to say thank You to Him, the list making might take longer and be even more fulfilling.

Plus, He loves to hear from us!

If it’s not a habit already engrained in our lives, it’s an addiction that will benefit all of us. Making new habits is much easier than breaking old ones. It makes sense that building new habits that will eventually replace our bad habits will erase the need to battle the ones that were dragging us down.

“In all things, give thanks….” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

 

(etsy.com)

What Won't I Look At?

(painting by Sarah Boardman)

Various topics can bring feelings of sorrow or sadness, just as some can bring feelings of joy and anticipation. But, what about when you can’t put your finger on what you’re feeling – or what brought those feelings on in the first place?

Today I looked at an internet piece on emotional eating, it was aimed at readers that may be eating for emotional reasons, not simply because they’re hungry.

Let’s face it, we eat for lots of reasons. There’s an old saying that goes: We are Americans; we eat when we’re not hungry, we drink when we’re not thirsty and we spend money we don’t have. It’s not really a saying that we, as Americans want to aspire to, but, too often, true.

Sometimes we eat because we’re sad. Sometimes because we’re celebrating, sometimes simply because the food is in front of us and we mindlessly put it into our mouths.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, most of the time the things we consume are a conglomeration of toxins we poison ourselves with; not really even food at all.

That brings us around to a topic that should make us sad and even angry.

If we stop and ask ourselves right now, knowing no one but God can hear our thoughts and answers: What emotions am I feeling right now? What answers will we list?

Then if ask why we’re feeling this way? How do we explain ourselves?

Some of us don’t resort to eating, we resort to shopping, or overworking ourselves, or we become addicted to working out, or we gamble or get drunk as often as we can. Why? An attempt to avoid facing something about our lives or ourselves that makes us ache?

What could be so bad about us, or about our lives that we can’t face it? In light of the fact that we’re not facing it alone, but with Almighty God – and all the resources of heaven, shouldn’t it be easier to look in the mirror and see our whole selves? If there’s a change we can make, why not make it instead of running from the reality of the need and hiding behind food or other addictions?

Ponder this with me, if you would. Give me your input, offer up some insight that might help us all. I'm looking for your comments and suggestions. I hope one of my next posts will shed some light on the subject with a mixture of your thoughts and mine.

James 1:22-24  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  (NIV)