11. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
12. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.
Regina Brett, 90 years old
9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
10. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
Regina Brett, 90 years old
Life Lessons (from the list of 42)
Faith Wears Combat Boots?…continued
If faith were for sale, how much would we be willing to spend for an ounce of faith? Would an ounce of faith be enough to carry us through one dark night of the soul? Would a gallon of faith be enough to carry us safely through that illness that threatens my life or the life of a loved one. Can I stockpile or horde enough faith to stay the storms and stresses of this life which afflict and assail from every vector? Usually, when people talk about having faith, they imply a positive attachment to it. Faith is generally thought to be something of value in one’s life. Faith is not usually associated in negative terms. Remember the definitions of faith: 1) confidence or trust in a person or thing; 2) belief that is not based on proof; 3) a belief in anything: God, a religious system, a code of ethics, etc. This is why we look to our ‘faith’ to carry us, to work for us, when the storms of life test and try us. If faith is to be of an any assistance to us, then it must be sturdy enough to maintain itself when it is assaulted and scrutinized. So when faced with uncertainty, why do we question the quality of our faith? Why do we assume that our faith is weak or that we have lost faith in the face of severe challenge. Either our faith works for us or it doesn’t. We can’t purchase or acquire ‘more faith’ when we feel our reserves are running low. Perhaps we should consider the possibility that our faith is weak because it is untested. Consider this, if an athlete doesn’t show up for his race, he will never know if his weeks and months of training were enough to get him across the finish line. Doesn’t a strong faith require similar training? If our faith is short-winded and flimsy, then the likely source of its impotence is lack of conditioning. A faith that wears combat boots is a faith that has been strengthened by quality exercise and discipline. I like to think of faith as a life force ~ it has breath, it has power to sustain. But faith, like breath and life, cannot be hoarded and stored in a warehouse like some commodity. If we want a faith that supports, protects and comforts us in the midst of life’s challenges, then we must realize that our faith is made strong and reliable only when it gets to work in Boot Camp.
Faith Wears Combat Boots?
What is faith? Dictionary.com defines faith as 1)confidence or trust in a person or thing; 2)belief that is not based on proof; 3)a belief in anything: God, a religious system, a code of ethics, etc. So faith does not require scientific proof to make it true for a believer; either one has faith or belief or confidence or trust or not.
To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. Thomas Aquinas
How do I get faith? In order to exist or be real for us, faith requires something from us; it is not something that happens to us in passivity; faith does not descend upon us like an ethereal mist; Faith requires action and input from our conscious mind and heart to believe that something is true. We get faith and we empower faith by our continued belief. Faith is very personal; it is a knowing belief which we, the believer, hold and possess as our own. For most of us, we must have some initial life circumstance or experience to help us decide whether or not something is worth believing or trusting. Instincts alone do not help us have faith; we are not born with a slab of faith, but we are born with the capacity to test, choose and adopt beliefs which seem right and trustworthy to us. So to get faith, we practice believing. But wait, PRACTICE implies work! And this is where the combat boots come into focus. If we want evidence that a belief or faith is REAL, then we would expect our faith to work its way out of us…a REAL FAITH has LEGS and FEET and ARMS and SHOULDERS. It must be put to work to be of any real value to us and others.
A body that doesn’t breathe is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead. James 2:26 (from GOD’S WORD Copyright 1995)
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
Regina Brett, 90 years old
Life Lessons (from the list of 42)
Run Training…Strides
It’s time to mix things up a bit in your running workouts as you near the end of your 500 mile base training. In a previous post, I discussed the value of tempo training for runners of every fitness level. In today’s post, I would like to introduce you to another tool for your running toolbox: strides. By definition, strides are short bursts of swift running usually held for 60 to 100 meters. Strides are valuable for runners who want to improve or promote better running form while also engaging fast twitch muscle fibers. Also known as pick-ups, strides can be interspersed into any of your conversational pace training runs. Perform 3-5 strides after your initial warm-up; divide your each stride into thirds (first 10-20 meters at conversational pace; increase speed and intensity over the next 20-60 meters; slowly decelerate to conversational pace for the last 10-20 meters). If you are not sure what 100 meters looks or feels like, go to the nearest running track a jog the straight sections. These sections are roughly 100 meters long. So one stride (divided into three parts) would last as long as that straight section of track (give or take several meters). Once you have a feeling for how long 100 meters is, you can add strides to your next easy run. Practice these once or twice a week and you will surely build your strength, stamina and speed! Want to read more about strides? Go to this article from Runner’s World.
Faith Wears Combat Boots?
What is faith? How do I get faith? Wouldn’t it be nice if I could go down to the corner convenience store and purchase a quart jar of faith when my pantry reserves are running low? But wait, if faith were for sale, how much would I be willing to spend for an ounce of faith? Would an ounce of faith be enough to carry me through one dark night of the soul? Would a gallon of faith be enough to carry me safely through that illness that threatens my life or the life of a loved one? Can I stockpile or horde enough faith to stay the storms and stresses of this life which afflict and assail from every vector? Where does faith come from? Where does it take up its abode? Where does it go when I lose it? How does faith grow and can it be cultivated? Can I live a happy life without faith? Is faith real or is it simply a fairytale story we tell to assuage the fears of children and old people? In the days to come I would like to explore these questions and will share my musings regarding ‘faith’ via my blog posts. I hope you’ll join the conversation…
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
Regina Brett, 90 years old
Life Lessons (from the list of 42)
Story Time
We all love a good story, don’t we? Whether the story is true or make-believe, a well-contrived story, with well-developed characters, full of drama, heroes, and villains galore delight us whether we are young or old. Stories are essential for growing our imaginations and enlarging our compassion for others. Many if not most stories are designed and constructed to teach a life lesson…how to live happily or not. And I think the reason we enjoy a good story from time to time is because stories have the ability to instruct us without judging us; stories give us a safe platform to explore the world through the eyes and ears of others.
Whether these others are real or fictional it does not matter, because stories of every genre become the fodder for our own belief system. And then we must look at our own story, because we are authors too. Authors of our own lives, writing each chapter, each scene, every moment of every day. Whether we realize it or not, our life is our story that will be read by those in our world (our family, our co-workers, our friends and associates). What lessons are we teaching? What lessons are we learning? How much of our story is based on fiction? How much is based on reality? As our own biographers, we have the authority to write and re-write our story each and every day…for better or worse!
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. Maya Angelou
You’re writing the story of your life one moment at a time.
(from The HeartMath Solution)
3. Life is too short — enjoy it.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends and family will.
Regina Brett, 90 years old
Think...Feel...Be....BodyWise! 