The Cost of an Effective Lifestyle

Do I stay or do I move on... Do I change my jobs, go to college (or back to college), move somewhere else, keep the same friends, start a new hobby, become a volunteer, adopt a faith practice, get off the couch and go for a run  :)  

Almost everyone has had to make a choice whether they were going to continue to live life like they have or change... I believe it is a daily choice...

I know that I need to change when I wake in the morning and I feel that my life is more of a chore than something I run to with joy... maybe it is my attitude that day (which is a huge influence on us)... maybe I feel like I should be doing something better with my life... maybe I should watch less TV and read more books...  Maybe there should be something added to our lives... enriching adventures, healthy habits, routines that bring eventual mastery of something (piano, painting, wood working, gardening, writing, income tax returns)  

Sometimes all it takes is a slight shift in our perspective of life... For me I know when I am needing healthy input... when I am angry, irritable, make poor choices, lazy, and prone to stay inside for long periods of time... Those are the unhealthy choices that lead to a stagnate life for me...

Someone once told me that he "doesn't let others affect his emotions, his attitude" like he had some sort of shield around himself that made him immune to human emotions and the messed up reality of humanity... This idea rubbed me the wrong way... it sort of made me think that he thought he was superior to me because I was a sensitive soul and allowed others to influence my attitude and emotions...

I understand how someone can develop that attitude... I've shared that attitude in high school... back when I was a lot more vulnerable, naive, and my peers were vicious in their verbal assaults...   They would dig into my heart and soul... I told myself that I wasn't hurt by them... sticks and stones right?   Wrong... there are still echoes of those words that haunt me even today as I navigate the more complex emotional and intellectual challenges of adulthood...

Even the biggest disappoints of my life... those stinging moments when all you want to do is run away or scream "no" in disagreement, trying to change the outcome of some unfortunate decision because it means you have to do something you hate, or you are forced out of your dream job, dream educational path, dream life...

Those moments are sometimes relived in small doses throughout life, triggered by situations, sights, smells, songs, maybe something we read or watch... maybe a careless word by others and more harmfully ourselves...

It's like looking at photos of yourself 10 years ago and wanting to go back in time to change your past with the hopes to make yourself better now... (i.e. avoid bad decisions, eating those twinkies... making or not making those friends... )

Whatever it is we wake up each morning and we are influence by a vast unwavering mountain of decisions...

So I believe that I am at a precipice of decisions... some big, some small, some financial, relational, emotional, physical, spiritual... all of which I want to make the best decision... and most of them I want to make a decision now...  moving forward without hesitation...

YET... things like TV, Video Games, Sleep, Facebook... wasting time... those things that I call my "numbing habits" keep me from moving forward... making decisions...   Like comfort food I really enjoy the easy choices of what channel to watch or which unhealthy food to eat or which game I should play.... then "poof" entire weeks of productivity is gone to a few game achievements or watching entire seasons of "cake boss"

I have skills and talents... so do you... yet when I choose my comfort habits I begin to believe that I'm not good at anything because I am not "doing" anything important...

So I am choosing to make some choices today... I've set forward a plan of actions... I've written down goals with deadlines...

ONE THING... that I want every choice that I make to include is an active... genuine... action, thought, and emotional based catalyst of LOVE...

I am talking about the love of God... the unwavering unconditional sort of love that is the reason that I choose healthy choices...

I guess this post is more a reflection of the thoughts bouncing around my head... but I want to encourage you in your decisions... in your choices... in your active endeavors to love others...

My choices are going to cost me something... comfort... pride... money... time... my desire to get even... my desire to have tons of friends (I want lots of them, but it's hard to maintain so many relationships)...

I desire to be someone awesome... I am someone awesome... those who are a master at what they do made the choice to work hard at those things that propelled them, little by little to become better... and the best are those who recognized that life is better when we care more about others than ourselves...

Be love... love God, love others...

Blessings...