New Year’s Resolutions DO OVER

It’s January 20th, so it’s highly likely that many of us have already failed at keeping our New Year’s Resolutions. That’s okay. We’re going to start over today. It’s allowed.

Let’s start with one big goal: get healthy in 2010.

Now let’s break it down into body, mind, spirit and emotions. Here’s why…

Several years ago, I allowed myself to become stressed to the point that I was experiencing physical symptoms. My blood pressure was high and my mouth was breaking out in ulcers. I’ll spare you the details, but my mouth and tongue were covered with them. It was very, very uncomfortable for about three weeks.

Because I was believing wrong thoughts, I was worrying. Worry snowballed into anxiety, which led to physical symptoms.

My blood pressure is now under control and I haven’t had another outbreak of ulcers, but I still occasionally experience physical symptoms related to stress. Shortness of breath and migraines are two of them. Fortunately, neither are frequent.

There’s no escaping the fact that our thoughts effect our emotions, which in turn effect us physically and even spiritually. It’s the reason I so often talk about the need to believe the truth about God, ourselves and this life. What we believe, effects everything else, so it’s not possible to get healthy, really healthy, if we ignore our mind and emotions.

It also works the other way. If I’m not taking care of myself physically, it will effect how I think and feel and how well I’m able to handle what’s going on in my life. For example, if I don’t exercise or eat a healthy diet and that leads to gaining 30 lbs., then I will not feel good about myself, I won’t have much energy and will very likely lack discipline in other areas of my life.

In the spirit of keeping things simple, let me suggest just two activities to strengthen each part of you: body, mind, spirit and emotions. We could look at a much longer list, but it would get overwhelming, at least for me. It’s better to decide on just a few key activities and stick with them than to have good intentions, but not follow through.

If you can implement just one activity in each area, then you’ll make good progress. If you can do both, then even better. So for a healthier, happier you in 2010, try the following:

Body

• Exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week. If you’re currently not doing anything, then just do something. Start walking. Let that turn into jogging, then running. If you don’t like running, then ride a bike, climb a hill, go for a swim or take the stairs instead of the elevator. Just do something to get your heart rate up. (I’d suggest adding in weight training, but we’ll save that for another time.)
• For two weeks, try to eat only from the following list: lean meat, fish, vegetables, salad, eggs, nuts and fruit. If it’s not on the list, then try to avoid it. Also eliminate any drink with sugar in it. Read labels. See how you feel after two weeks. If you feel better, then keep going.

Spirit

• Set aside some time to read God’s word and pray everyday. It helps me to also write in my journal during this time. The amount of time is up to you. Could be 15 minutes. Maybe 30. If you’ll do it consistently, I’ll bet you’ll soon find 30 minutes isn’t enough.
• Don’t try to grow spiritually by yourself. You need community. Spend time with a friend, a small group or a mentor.

Mind

• Choose to believe God, not your circumstances. It won’t be easy, but nothing will have a greater impact than this.
• Re-read the two activities under “Spirit.”

Emotions

• Get in the habit of evaluating your emotions. If you feel worried–ask yourself, “Why?” The same goes for fear, discouragement, anxiety, anger, loneliness, etc. Your emotions are a result of your thoughts. Trace the emotion back to the thought that caused it. Change the thought and eventually the emotion will change.
• Get more rest and quiet time. Turn off the news. Go to bed earlier. Take walks. Leave work earlier if you can. Don’t feel like you must answer your phone or email 24/7. They can wait.

Marriage Bonus

If you’re married, the Bible teaches that God sees a husband and wife as one. So in a very real sense, your spouse is a part of you now. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:4, “The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.” He also wrote in Ephesians 5:28, “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.”

That being said, here are a couple key activities to implement as husbands and wives:

• Set aside 30 minutes every day to talk. You can do it while driving, walking, cooking, cleaning or exercising. You can do it sitting at the breakfast table over a cup of coffee. You can do it after the kids are in bed. Find whatever works for you. Just make an emotional connection by talking.
• Make sex a priority. You’ll have to decide as a couple what that means for you. Every couple is different. Kids, work schedules and other factors all play into this, but I encourage you to make your sex life a high priority. Try this for the next two weeks: enjoy sex with each other everyday. Yes, everyday. For some of you, this will be very different than what you’re experiencing now. That’s okay. Do it anyway. For any of you who are already doing it everyday, well…carry on…

Yup, it’s January 20th, but it’s not too late to get healthy in 2010. If you’ve already blown your resolutions, then forgive yourself, forget the past and start over. You can make a lot of progress by the end of the month if you start now.