J Bravo's Training For Life

You've chosen to be in control of your life, and you've reaffirmed your zest for life. You've chosen to breathe more freely, live more naturally and contribute more positively to the friends, family and world at large. You've chosen to say, "I care. I don't smoke."

Enter the Tobacco Free Florida YouTube YouCare video contest. View the video above (starring Bravo of Bravo Fitness) and see the following links for more details.

http://www.youtube.com/tobaccofreeflorida

http://www.tobaccofreeflorida.com/

"...you are immersed in the truths of God to SOAK in them before Him."
- My Utmost For His Highest, October 19

The past 26 months in my life has been a regeneration and time of growth unlike anything I've ever experienced. Often challenging, frustrating, stretching, exciting, exhilarating, confusing, but above all has left me in a state of peace and contentment in cherishing these days that I have to do nothing more than focus and grow into who it is that I am supposed to be. It has been a full on God-soak.

Much like a dry sponge that instantly drinks up the water its placed into, so has my soul been to the Spirit of God in the last two years.

I have wrestled with and been dealt with on the need for and benefits of wholeheartedly giving a portion of my income as a tithe in thanksgiving for what I have and in thanksgiving in advance for what is to come. And as I have done that I have had nothing less than real-life tangible results and benefits of steady self-employed income.

I had come to the conclusion that if I put my faithful giving and following of the calling upon my life above ALL else - seeking God in both of these - then the few debts that I wish to pay off will be dealt with in due time. I had to come to this conclusion in my own time, but I did, and it seems to be working.

In this same vein, my time has been freed up so that I can simply live and live simply. Here's how:

In the previous iteration of my business, I was so stressed out that I couldn't even think straight. Ironically, I was so stressed out that, being involved in a creative business, I couldn't even create anymore. Working 7 days a week, 8, 10 and 12 hour days was a nightmare that I didn't even know I was starring in.

Having my time supernaturally freed again has allowed me to live again. By being allowed to live again, its allowed me to create again.

I love to work. Truly. Work is edifying. Not work just for the sake of work (see the quote at the end of this composition), but work that MEANS something. Work that I can pour my being into. Volunteer work that makes a difference in someone elses life. We were created to work. I have faith. And faith without WORKS is dead. And work with faith I do because now that I have been regenerated by rest and recovery I am most certainly not dead anymore.

The catch: even though I live to work, God will purposely only bring the amount of work that I need at a time. He will regulate my time so that I have just enough to keep me busy and out of trouble and so that I have just enough income to survive on. Just enough to know that I must be responsible to be a good steward of what I've been given, including the aforementioned tithe.

And He will build downtime into my schedule to enjoy life. To relax. To create. To be with people. To build relationships. To focus. To learn. To grow. To be polished.

To live.

I believe myself to be a creative person. From designing, writing, acting, sketching, shooting workout videos, working on music, designing t shirts, et al, I AM creative. And its what drives me.

In the same way I have wrestled with doing the proper thing with my finances, I have also wrestled with my daily devotional time.

Ok God, I get it.

But, I'm in a constant state of praying and communicating with You. I'm in touch with friends and accountability partners all the time during the week. I know all the bible stories. I know there's 66 books in the Bible. Right?! Blah blah blah blah BLAHHHHHHHHHH. I FREAKING GET IT.

I.
FREAKING.
GET.
IT.

But I still didn't have my own personal devotional time.

Until now.

It only makes sense that in the same way that God provides income from which I am to give a portion, that I should take a portion of the free time that God blesses me with and "tithe" a portion of that time in devotion to Him.

And IF I DO THIS, which I am now doing consistently, then ultimately ALL of my time will be mine. No time clock punching at the Y. No projects for other people. Unless I CHOOSE to take those on by God's leading.

And this is the crossroad where secular and holy meet.

"Secular meet Holy. Holy meet secular."

Don't misunderstand. It blesses me immensely to assist people in bettering themselves with health and wellness. It blesses me immensely to be able to assist those - those that respect my work anyway - with web, logo, print and other design related issues that will better their business or organization and possibly make them more profitable or recognizable.

But ANYthing can become a "job." Going to the gym with a client can become a job. Designing mass amounts of websites for anyone and everyone will become a job. again.

But to be able to reach out and take hold of your dream and vision that God has implanted in you, and to think that you could survive off of that - because heck, everyone has bills to pay - how perfect would that be? "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." We've all heard it, but how many of us actually DO this?

I wasn't created to do the same thing all the time. I love diversity and I have grown to love change. Yes, I said GROWN to love change, because change is hard. BUT, the several major instances of growth in the past couple of years have yielded benefits FAR above and beyond the temporary struggles and growth that came from that change that I look forward to new change these days.

I was born with many many innate interests and creative goals. I am thankful for that and I make NO APOLOGIES to those that have given me the advice over the years of "you really need to pick one thing and stick with it." No, if God didn't MAKE me this way, with many different interests, I wouldn't BE this way. Thank you, but no thank you.

If we were created in God's image and if God is a creative being, then we ALL have some measure of creativity to bring to various situations. Yes, ALL includes you.

If I give a portion of my time to God then I will ultimately be able to exist in a state of complete creativity all the time using the ideas that God inspires me with to do my OWN projects for my OWN self to then produce income from which a portion will be given as a tithe thus creating a positive vicious cycle of living directly from the creative pipeline and financial provision of God.

When this happens, it will happen in God's time due to God's plan. It is supposed to be this way so that WE cannot take credit for making it happen. Much like I believe my tithing financially will free me from certain debts, it will only happen according to God's plan. Why is this you ask? Because if it happens by way of OUR making it happen, then we puff our chests out and take credit for being self-made people that don't need the influence and provision of God in our lives. "See this, look at what I did. God who? Oh, no, HE didn't have anything to do with this. It was ALL me." Thus, HE doesn't get the credit.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, if it happens according to God's plan, in God's time and you have
done your best to grow and stay focused and make the most of every opportunity that comes your way, then when your moment DOES come, or the success that you see DOES come to fruition, then you can wholeheartedly, humbly, and thankfully be completely sincere when you respond by saying, "It wasn't me, it was He."

And THEN, God is truly glorified for being God.

And this is when God excels. This is His show and He knows how to be the star. And when you humble yourself before God in this way, He will lift you higher than you have ever imagined.

If you are at a place in time where you don't seem to be moving forward too much, maybe you're being dealt with on some issues that God deems necessary to have work done on in your life. CHERISH THIS TIME! Revel in, and give thanks for, each day. For it means that you are chosen by God. It means that you are called to great things. It means that God deems you worth polishing.

We are ALL worth a great price.
We are ALL meant for great things.
And if I may be so bold, we are ALL worth polishing.

We are ALL called to soak in Him.

And sometimes we are FORCED to stop and soak in Him. But unlike a trip to the dentist, its a visit to sit before the throne of God and become more like Him and to become more of who He created us to be.

Have a strong God-soak.

"And if you waste your time in overactivity, instead of being immersed in the great fundamental truths of God's redemption, then you will snap when the stress and strain do come. But if this time of SOAKING before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in Him, which may appear to be impractical, then you will REMAIN TRUE TO HIM whatever happens."
- My Utmost For His Highest, October 19

Colossians 4:5-6 (NIV), "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

No, the paragraph above is not the worst advice I've ever received. It is however just the opposite of the worst advice I've ever received. I will lead up to telling you this bad advice by giving you the BEST advice I believe I can:

DO NOT limit yourself. DO NOT hold yourself to only one thing, one career or one dream. Try as MANY things as you believe that you have a mind to do. Experience EVERYTHING that life has to offer -- including the hard, sad and rough times -- because those times lead to more fully experiencing the better times. Cliche alert: Variety is the spice of life.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat." -Teddy Roosevelt

When I went to the career counseling center to make an attempt at selecting a path to follow at FSU, the meeting went long. Way long.

Unfortunately for the career counselor, my interests are too wide and too deep to be contained in one simple to follow path of pre-requisites, majors, minors, core credit hours and other higher-ed red-tape gobbledeegook. Fortunately though, she seemed to have been faced with this before as indicated by her swiss-army-knife-like ability to proffer a new profile sheet for each of a dozen different major courses of study that outlined core and elective courses virtually as quickly as I could name them.

And then one floated to the top (Information Studies) with the promise that I could bend it to fit whatever path I wanted to take. I mean, what does "Information Studies" really mean anyway? THAT sounds nebulous and intangible enough to be perceived on the outside as a worthwhile endeavour. Gorgeous. Wrap it, pack it and ship it. I'm buying what you're selling Mrs. Career Counselorette. Slap a General Communication minor on it and call it done. No. Stick a fork in it and call it WELL done.

Not only were these courses of study wide enough to encompass my interests (for the most part) but the courses inside of each ranged from Advertising to Films of Spielberg to Computer Programming.

No, this is not a blow by blow, play by play of the last 10 years of my life. Don't pop any popcorn. It won't be as boring as being subjected to watching someone's home movies.

Who was your favorite teacher? Most likely, though we don't like to admit to it at the time, it was the teacher that was the most hard edged, demanding, diverse, exciting, and rigorous teacher you ever had. One cannot truly teach without experiences to glean from. And when one begins to teach, one truly finds out what one really knows about a subject. Even if a high school history teacher once had a job as a secret service agent, a fast food sub sandwich maker, coached little league, and spent time in the armed services -- of which each have relatively nothing to do with "History" -- all of those experiences will give a unique perspective on that teacher's ability to relate to and interact with the students. Which will then potentially inspire them onward in their educational endeavors.

Professor Loganathan whose life was taken in the shooting at Virginia Tech last week, was just this kind of teacher. He engaged. He entertained - sometimes with self-deprecating humor. He debated - eloquently.

From a report on CNN.com: "He cared about his students as if they were his own children, fretting about their grades, making sure they understood the concepts," said Loganathan's wife, Usha, her voice breaking. "To the last minute, he loved teaching."

In the 1988 movie "Stand and Deliver" (based on a true story) a dedicated teacher inspires his dropout-prone students to learn calculus to build up their self-esteem. They end up doing so well that they are accused of cheating. Mr. Escalante was a mathematics teacher in a school in a hispanic neighborhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into some of the country's top algebra and calculus students.

Who has ever seen something in you that you can't see yourself? DON'T blow these observations off as happenstance. This is a further indication as to why God has engineered our interactions to be interdependent.

15 years ago, an english teacher (who then several years later passed away from ALS / Lou Gherig's Disease) saw in me a speaking / acting / narrating talent. I still have the letter she wrote to me on this topic - a unique letter she wrote to each student in her final class. It is now framed and sits beside my mirror that I use to get ready each day or to get ready for an audition. To remind me that THAT is what I am supposed to be doing since it has taken me that long to come to terms with it. What I would tell her now if I could. And the best way for me to honor that, now that I realize that she was right, is to ACT on it (no pun intended) and give it the best effort that I can.

So, the worst advice I've ever received. "Jeremy, you need to find one thing and stick to it. You're spreading yourself too thin." This intones the exact opposite of what my two loving parents told me for the entirety of my youth -- "Jeremy, we believe that you can do anything you put your mind to."

Let me tell you. I've been spread thin before. And this is most certainly, unequivocally not it.
If I was not to be someone who wanted to try everything and squeeze it all in and get absolutely everything that he could out of this life, then God would not have organized my DNA in such a way that I am someone who wants to try everything and squeeze it all in and get absolutely everything that he can out of this life.

I am bouncing back from this bad advice and I am moving forward. I am embracing that that makes me who I am. I am doing it all -- and working my way closer to my calling in the meantime -- and making no apologies to ANYONE anymore about this.

One day, you find yourself taking this advice of (CLICHE ALERT) putting all of your eggs in one basket. And then the next day you find yourself picking up the pieces -- whatever pieces there are left to be picked up -- from having invested your entire life and savings into "Enron." One day, you're checking your retirement fund and the kids pre-paid college fund to see how it is progressing and then the next day you awaken to find that some dirtbag scum-sucking corporate executives have absconded with your financial future.

One of which (Kenneth Lay of Enron fame) has already died. They say it was "coronary artery disease." I'm sure that regardless of whatever they "diagnosed" it as, that it stemmed from stress. Can YOU imagine the stress of ruining the lives of that many people who had put their trust in you? I'm sure his pastor father -- if he were still alive -- would be proud of him. And they say stress doesn't kill...

Every investment advisor -- who's worth a damn -- tells us to DIVERSIFY OUR PORTFOLIOS. Why? Because sooner or later one or more of our holdings will take off.
Mutual Funds are so attractive because they spread the risk (and investment return potential) out over an entire littany of stock holdings for long term security. And all of these poor souls put everything they had into Enron. And this has happened time and time again.

I will not put my entire skillset and career potential into just ONE basket. I will be light on my feet with diversity in my quiver. And there hasn't been a time yet when experience that I've had in one area has not come into play with giving me something I can tap into to bring positive influence to a completely different area.

So where does this diversity leave me today? It leaves me in a state of freedom and peace. It leaves me light on my feet. Ready to change directions and grab the next big opportunity by the tail. It leaves me in a state of flexibility that gives me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 1/4 days a year of being able to do exactly what I want. My life's bank account contains 31,557,600 seconds per year that I can spend gloriously and thankfully. And that is worth more than having a million dollars in the bank. Many times over.

Of course, I have my responsibilites that I have to uphold. And, upholding these responsibilites is edifying - to myself and to my God. And those that I am responsible to, know that in the vast majority of instances, that I do what it is that I say that I'm going to do. And because of this, they know that if a particular instance arises that takes me out of my everyday routine and focuses my attention towards a different commitment, that it is something I need to uphold. They grant that freedom to me, and I am thankful for it.

And where will this diversity leave me in ten years -- or sooner? It leaves me still in a state of freedom and peace -- to an even greater degree. It leaves me free to dip into my bank account of time for the family I will one day have so that I can be there always. It leaves me free to dip into my bank account of time to thus be there to affect change and to give myself to others freely and wholeheartedly as God would have me to do. The only important things in this life are finding and fulfilling your destiny and building relationships along the way. That makes us who we are and it is the ONLY thing that lasts.

A 1,000 piece puzzle is not complete until the last piece is in place. It may look complete with just one piece or 5 pieces missing. But it will nag you to no end if you get to the end and there is that one piece not found. All that work! To be cut off at the pass before full completion.
Use the puzzle as a metaphor for all manner of paths and life experiences that we attempt. Maybe you have to try 999 different things to find where you fit. Or maybe its that 1,000th piece that completes the puzzle of your life to allow you to sink in to the place where your destiny is fulfilled. There's nothing like finding that last perfect puzzle piece, lining it up perfectly, and pressing it into perfect place. So it is with our lives.

All of those attempts at locking the right pieces into place may have been frustrating -- and may have delayed the ultimate completion of the puzzle. But they weren't all for naught, because the puzzle is finally done.

Sometimes we get so bound up that we don't know which step to take next. We don't know which piece to put in place next. But its better to be headed in the wrong direction and make a turn or follow a curve to where we're supposed to be than to stand on square one of Candyland just hoping to make it to the Gingerbread House at the end.

God uses our mis-steps and swerves and curves and running off of the road and yes, even backsliding to ultimately - and maybe ironically - move us..... forward.

Which leads to the final point.

Its impossible for God to direct your steps if you're standing still.

This is some other of my own advice that I have to be reminded of in my own life on a regular basis. I rarely know what the ultimate outcome will be, but I know that I'm taking steps to get there.

Each new experience is a form of thanksgiving for being taken out of my comfort zone.
I now look forward to change, in fact, I now thrive on it, due to all of the positive things that ultimately come out of it.

Each puzzle piece set in perfect place is one step closer.

My place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat. My place is to sprinkle, or pour, or bring dump-truck-loads of salt everywhere I go.

Each opportunity that you make the most of makes God smile because He knows that each little opportunity that you give your all to will prepare you to handle the big ones with grace.

Be well this week and embrace your opportunities head on with all the vigor you can muster. They are not there just by chance.

Have a strong day.

So when is the last time your feelings were hurt? Probably, too recently.

Here's the deal:

If you give others the power to hurt your feelings, -- then they have control in your life.

If you give others control in your life, -- then they can manipulate your thoughts, feelings and ultimately - your actions.

If you allow others to manipulate your actions, -- then more and more of your life leaves God's will and becomes the will of others.

If you give up your life and your will to others, -- and not to God, then you are abandoning your gifts and the calling on your life for the fulfillment of your destiny and subjecting yourself to the rollercoaster ride of emotion and whim in the lives of other people.

I got off of the rollercoaster ride of emotion and indecision a long time ago. When you
come over the hill on the coaster track of life, and the bottom drops out, and your
hands are thrust into the air, what will you hang on to? Have you ever have one of
those dreams where you feel like you're falling and can't stop yourself?

Terrifying.
Helpless.
Hopeless.

The next time your rollercoaster comes to a stop, I recommend you follow suit by
getting off of this ride, and your life will never be the same again -- it will be better.

Theres nothing wrong with accountability and having some other select people in our
life to help keep us on track. Accountability keeps us, well, accountable. It helps us
by not only allowing us to open up to others in a safe way, but others can see into our
lives easier than we can sometimes. It helps us, among many things, to make sure
that while we're in the middle of seeking our dreams and living life the way we believe
we should, that we're also not doing that at the expense of others.

And I said "select" people. Not anyone and everyone. You can't expose the personal
calling, your heart's desire to anyone and everyone. People are very free to give
advice - everyone, including myself. And people are also willing and ready to call your
dreams down and bring you to their level of disappointment with the fact that they
haven't achieved their OWN dreams due to bitterness, contempt or some other sour
root in their lives.

I certainly don't put psychobabble in front of God's leading in my life, but Maslow and
his "hierarchy of needs" has a certain ring of truth to it of late. When your basic needs
are met and dealt with, you are more free to be a blessing to others. When you've
stripped everything away (or been stripped of everything) and have learned to be at
peace with where you've been placed, you are more free to genuinely interact with
others on a root level when the other party doesn't feel that they need to "buy what
you're selling" because there is nothing to buy. Its all free. The walls come down
because there are no expectations. Because its all genuine.

Why is Bill Murray required to repeat February 2nd, over and over again in "Groundhog
Day?" He's required to repeat it over and over and over and over until he learns that
his life is not about him. He's required to repeat it over and over and over until he
learns that its about love and giving freely and selflessly of himself to others -- and
the catch: without expecting anything in return. And when he DOES finally realize this
on the 487th re-run of his own personal Groundhog Day, he is allowed to move forward
- and he really begins to live. Its interesting how 'live' and 'love' are separated by only
one letter. And unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of pressing rewind. We have
to come to that understanding of giving freely of ourselves by living, learning - and
ultimately loving - through spending the "days" in our life's bank account --- and the
next catch: we don't know the balance of how many days we have left on this
"account." Theres no 24 hour number to call or website to visit that will tell you your
balance, thus the making the most of each day should be our only goal.

There is something that you're expected to do. Period. Someone needs what YOU
have to offer. Specifically, they NEED the gift that you have to give when you follow
and fulfill your dream(s). Whether that be something that they specifically receive
from you related to your fulfilling your dream or whether that be their simply being
inspired by you following your dream(s) that they can then do the same in their life.
Either way, if you don't put every ounce of energy that you have into finding your
purpose, the sin lies in the fact that you are withholding from others the power that is
supposed to flow through you when you are true to yourself.

And now we have TiVO. Yet another distraction based on television. Now, not only
can we watch TV more conveniently, but we can cram 33% more into our heads in the
same amount of time after deleting commercials. (Everyone knows a half-hour show
really only yields 20 or so minutes of actual entertainment content and the rest is
there to fuel our consumerism) 33% more murders. 33% more affairs and adultery.
33% more lawlessness. 33% more rebellion of youth against parents and authority.
33% more drug usage. Or maybe the flip side is 33% more good things? 33% more
educational programming and such? If we watch it? But mostly our tv watching
population segment gravitates toward the lurid don't they?

You can either live YOUR life or you can live vicariously through the formulaic and fake
world of "reality tv." What an ironic oxymoron. The successful don't care about who
just got kicked off of the island or what fake purposeless relationship was just spawned
on the Bachelor / Bachelorette.

Why are you here? Why are you reading this? Why are you staying in touch with
people through myspace? Why do we all spend so much time on myspace? Why do
we want to look through old yearbooks and notes to remind ourselves of names that
we can then go search for on myspace so we can then add them as a friend even if
we've not spoken to them in PERSON for 10 years?

THE ANSWER AND THE ONE EXISTENTIAL TRUTH IN THIS BLOG POST WILL
IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH:

Because we want to be remembered. We want to know that we existed. That we
made a difference. That we left footprints in someone else's life. Or that we made
this planet a better place. Myspace is a "virtual sidewalk" of sorts - the wet cement -
for our generation. And we want to leave our initials in it. One day you wake up and
you're graduating high school without a clue as to where you're headed and then one
day you wake up and realize that tomorrow you are to attend your high school's 10
year reunion and you ask where the time went. You write your name in wet cement
because you want to be validated.

Writing in fresh cement.

Sometimes, there's nothing more exciting than the simple things in life.

Exhilirating.
Fulfilling.
Daring.
Sneaky.
Permanent.

Freshly poured cement is hard to resist.

Use a pencil.
Use a stick.
Use a finger.
Use something.

Let them know you weren't scared to take a chance.

In wet cement or in life.

Make your mark.

Taking a chance to decorate someones "freshly smoothed" cement means that you
might get caught. You might get in trouble - at least temporarily. But regardless, if
you can pull it off, you will be a permanent part of the landscape.

Walking my college campus, I cannot help but notice those that have gone before me
and "left their mark" in the cement.

Where are they now?

Successful in career?
Building into leaders of tomorrow?
Alive?
Musicians?
Entrepreneurs?
Politicians?
Raising families?
Servicepeople defending our right to write in concrete?
Passed on to the next life?
What was their legacy?

I think the draw to make a mark in concrete stems from our quickly fading lives. It
stems from our ingrained desire to know that we were here. And that we made a
difference.

We were here. We helped someone. We succeeded. We fell but got back up. We
grew up. We made something of ourselves. We fell but got back up. We gave to the
poor. We adopted a child. We ran for office. We fell but got back up. We did it with
passion. We lost a loved one. We fell but got back up. We went to war. We beat a
cancer diagnosis. We fell but got back up. We fell but got back up. We fell but got
back up. We fell but got back up. We fell but got back up. We lived. And we died.

I've lost two former high school buddies and a first girlfriend. What would they have
made of this life if it wasn't taken too soon? What will you make of yours?

Our high school had a tradition of a "senior sidewalk" whereby we could pour a new
strip of concrete each year and add our graduates' initials to the campus landscape
permanently. When our school was demolished to build a new medical school for the
Florida State University a couple of us even went so far as to have a discussion about
how to pick up the sidewalk and re-plant it at the newly constructed high school
across town. For various reasons - partially because this was an insane idea and
partially because we had enough life commitments underway to make something like
this impossible - it never materialized. But the sidewalk was such a part of who we
were as students that we didn't want that to be forgotten and left to be covered by
the sands of time.

Use wet cement to remember someone. Thank someone. Memorialize someone. Honor a
mentor. Shamelessly self-promote. Recognize a charity. Start the revolution.

Wet cement knows no countries, borders, skin colors, races, creeds, preferences,
political capital, religions, hairstyles, business objectives, clothings styles, strategery,
unified differentiality, automobiles, material posessions, diseases, afflictions, pretenses,
cell phones, disabilities, frustrations, joys, pains or anything else that we use to
"define" ourselves. It only knows names.

It celebrates our differences and our interwoven existences.

It shows that we have lived, loved and maybe, died.

We are only here for but a short time.
Make it great.
Make it special.
Make it amazing.
Make it sincerely.
Make it while reaching out a hand to help someone else up.
Make it even when the odds are against you.
(hint: they will ALWAYS be against you)
Make it believable.
Make it with passion.
Nothing is accomplished without passion.

Leave it beautiful. Leave it strong. Leave it wiser. Leave it older. Leave your legacy.

Leave your DNA. Leave it well.

Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day" feels the pressure of trying to "save" everyone from
themselves once he knows what will befall them. Many times, people need to learn
from their mistakes and ALL of the time, we can't be Superman. This movie illustrates
why we need God, why we need each other and why we need to feel. All of our lives
are inextricably linked, just like the profiles on myspace. WE cannot save each other,
but we can be there for each other. And in this being there, God is also.

And maybe -- just maybe -- God saves others through us -- but not because of us.

I just read a headline on someone's myspace page that asked, "Am I too old for
myspace?"

To which I reply, "You're never too old for myspace."

You're never too old to write in wet cement.

You're never too old to leave your mark on someone else's life. Start today.

Have a strong life.

Psalm 33:4 - The Message
4-5 For God's Word is solid to the core;
everything he makes is sound inside and out.... (emphasis added)

I hate seeing people not living up to their potential. I hate seeing ME not living up to MY own potential - which is why I am always trying to make changes for the better. And with what seems like such a culture of underachievement these days - just simply DOING WHAT IT IS THAT YOU ARE SAYING THAT YOU WILL DO will set you apart from others. I fail at this all the time, though hopefully the frequency will become less and less. Maybe overall we're just "spoiled" from being so blessed and we just feel like we should expect all of the good things to come to us without having to work for it anymore.

The Maker's Diet states "Americans seem to accept poor health as a normal consequence of aging...Fully one half of your nerve cells are located in the gut, so your capacity for feeling and for emotional expression depends primarily on the gut (and only to a lesser extent on your brain). By the time you add together the number of nerve cells in the esophagus, stomach, and small and large intestine, there are more nerve cells in the overall digestive system than are in the preipheral nervous system. Most people would say the brain determines whether you are happy or sad, but they have their facts skewed. It seems the gut is more responsible than we ever imagined for mental well-being and how we feel."

....He loves it when everything fits,
when his world is in plumb-line true....

SO, being passionate / creative / actors / artists / musicians / people, that others might look to for inspiration, how much better can we inspire them if we are even in better touch with our OWN "gut" and feelings? And I submit to you, that we JUST MIGHT be in better touch with our own gut and feelings if we put good things into the core of our bodies.

There seems to be a natural progression that we go to college, graduate and spend our 20's running our bodies down my drinking / smoking / poor nutrition / etc. and then spend the rest of our lives just trying to manage our health instead of striving to have as good of health as we're capable of so that we can really do what we're called to do in this life. Many people don't do what they're CALLED to do as they get sucked into the "get a job just to make money to survive long enough to pay the next bill to justify keeping a job" rut. These are those that will even moreso look to those that are inspirational for inspiration (welcome to the department of redundancy department?!) whether that person is a worship leader, performer or whatever. Even if they don't feel called to get up and take the microphone, they might feel inspired that just because you're doing what it is that you're called to do, that they too can possibly make their dreams a reality.

When you create, you honor God as God is a creative being. The Reformation all but did away with creativity in the "church," but thankfully we are righting those wrongs more and more.

There is always a debate by those that believe that performing should be completely separate from leading worship. And understandably, we don't want our leadership positions to be filled with those that are solely about self-promotion and fake "look at me before you look to God" types - there is enough of that in certain religions. The fact is, that by following your calling - if that calling is to be a performer - then THAT in and of itself IS an act of worship. Performing can very easily be the by-product of worshiping. Not everyone is called to perform or be on stage - so those that are, and those that do, are just being who they are supposed to be. And we all know in our hearts when we are touched by someone's positive influence from stage when they are doing what they're called to do vs. someone who is engaged self-glorification.

A bird that flies, flocks, eats bugs, builds nests and does bird-like things is not BRAGGING about being a bird - instead, it is honoring God just by simply doing what it was created to do. The biggest band in the world leads tens of thousands into WORSHIP (whether they realize it or not) every night that they PERFORM, just simply by doing what it is that they are CALLED to do. And U2 would not still be around and making the impact that they make without this inextricable connection with God above.

And the expectation of poor health thing can be applied to many other things especially since we're Generation X or Y or whatever the hell they're calling us these days - the generation of "casual fridays." It seems to tie in with how people present themselves. I certainly don't judge underprivelidged people or those who have less as God knows I certainly don't have much and I don't dress up every day by any stretch and I don't workout EVERY DAY.

BUT I do try to do the best I can with what I have and I think - no, I KNOW - that once we feel better about ourselves and the way we look (which VERY often ties in with wellness and what we put into our bodies), the way we then begin to present ourselves with the way we dress and the shape of our bodies when we are out and about is an outward expression of inner confidence. The #1 most attractive body part - as rated by men and women alike - is a flat, toned midsection. A strong core. Attention to detail. The realization that you're only as strong as your weakest link. Core weakness leads to myriad problems - but when your core (physical and spiritual) is strong, so will the rest of your body and life be.

Isaiah 55:2
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.

I have just seen so much of people who have creeped up to 30 or passed 30 already and they've just resigned themselves to the fact that "oh well, its just supposed to happen as i get older." Its ok, I'll just get on a good HMO plan and get plenty of pharma to keep me going. And then invariably, every few years, the dung hits the fan and everyone scurries around worried about their prescription drug plans because they are so reliant on big brother instead of putting their faith in something bigger. Which I think is bulls**t. This is what I've tried to get across in my bio on Bravo Fitness - only without using the word bulls**t. You MUST not rely on a company to give you a health insurance plan. You MUST work to not be any bigger of a burden on the best health care system in the world by TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF. Even the best man-made system in the world will fail one day. When the fallible nature of man is involved, something WILL break down. And what then of all of those that have built their trust upon this "sandcastle?"

The more selfish we become, the more our divorce rate will continue to rise. The more self-centered and less god-centered we become, the more we will look to government and social programs to fill the void of our lack of faith. It is a tenement of virtually every belief-system worldwide that one should be charitable and look out for those less fortunate. WE should be the ones - through our faith - running "programs" for those in need. Not the black-hole waste-pit of ANY government, tax code, beauracracy or political-party. As our faith wanes, our programs will wax larger and larger until like a millstone it will drag us to the place that we deserve - to our knees so that we have nowhere else to look but up.

This selfishness can also be a cause of relationships that fall apart. "Oh well, we're together now, I exercised to be in shape for her and dressed up and acted proper enough in public enough to get her, now I can let myself go behind closed doors." Or, even in front of closed doors. How does that make the other person feel? And it goes both ways ladies. Not that you do EVERYTHING in your life for the other person as ultimately you are accountable to God, BUT it does make the other feel special when you still try to impress them after being together for a length of time - and not just with staying in shape to keep her attention from wandering to someone who will make her feel special by trying to impress her, but with anything that you know she likes that you can do to make her think of you first. Throw that towel in the dryer so that it will be warm when she gets out of the shower. Maybe a picnic lunch on a day when shes not having such a good day. And when you've made a commitment to someone - especially a life long commitment - then there's always going to be a need to make things new or renewed and special for the other person. Keep her satisfied with YOUR affection so that she won't have to look elsewhere.

....Earth is drenched
in God's affectionate satisfaction.

The underlying theme is that we should simply ALWAYS strive for excellence and not give in to underachieving since the world EXPECTS that. The world expects you to be fat, out of shape, and sick. The world expects you to stifle creativity and go with the way things have always been done. The world expects you to bounce from lover to lover without a second thought as to what you could have done better to wait for the right one and / or to keep your attention focused on the right one you've actually gotten instead of having a wandering eye. Being normal is being in debt, out of shape and hopeless. Don't be normal. Subvert the dominant expectation and your life will become what it truly is supposed to be.

Have a strong life.

1 John 3:18 (NIV)
"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

Step back a moment from your life. Picture yourself on a day to day routine. Maybe you're flying along in a sort of "out of body" experience - hovering over yourself and watching yourself as you go about your responsibilities. A sort of "Its A Wonderful Life" slash watching yourself play yourself in a real life movie type of experience.

How many times do you circle the parking lot to find that choice space up front?
How many stairs do you climb to get to that meeting - or do you opt for the elevator?
How often do you send an instant or text message to someone instead of walking over for some good ol' face to face? (and what unspoken benefits of real human interaction do you miss out on by resorting to electronic communication?)

Although, much unhealthy exercise that is performed is grueling and punishing to the body and we must watch the limits to which we go to be healthy and in shape, the majority of us don't come close to even a minimum recommended daily allowance. ESPECIALLY our core strength - lower back, abdomen, obliques, etc.

In any given day you possibly:* Are sedentary while sleeping (hopefully!).* Walk short distances to your car and then sit virtually motionless while you drive to and from work.* Sit at work all day (barring any short breaks or long breaks for short walks if you're lucky).* Head home and sit for dinner.* Watch TV until bedtime.* Then repeat.* Ad nauseum.

In this scenario, our core strength goes down the tubes virtually overnight. We're no longer "hunters and gatherers" thus most of our time is spent in the same square mileage of the same town. Due to weak core strength, its no wonder that we carry the same chronic pains and problems from year to year - if we're lucky they don't get worse each passing year. Weak core, leads to weak spine, which leads to pinched nerves, poor circulation, poor transmission of signals from the brain to the rest of the body, unnecessary ailments, etc. More than likely, a NEGATIVE vicious cycle is created (along with more pain and ailments) that becomes harder and harder to get out of.

We spend our 20's partying it up (some of us longer than that and maybe some of us earlier than that??) thus letting our wellness go straight to hell. Then we hit the 30's and beyond and the rest of our lives are spent just trying to MANAGE health problems.

We need a new trend.

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)
"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

Enjoy life while you're young. Enjoy life when you're old. Enjoy life when you're in between. You only get one chance. But don't destroy the foundation needed for a long healthy life. Spend your early years developing a firm foundation that will allow you to fulfill God's purpose for your life. No facet of your life will more quickly take your focus from your destiny and distract you with needless chronic ailments - one after the other - than neglecting the most precious thing you have and one of the most important things that connect you directly on a minute by minute basis with your Creator.

Your physical being is temporary but necessary.

You're beyond your 20's, 30's or 40's? Maybe even FAR beyond these decades? There's no time like the present to take a step back from something that's not working and implement PURPOSEFUL changes that will take your life back from the destructive "band-aid" oriented vicious cycle of HMO's, medical mispractice & malpractice, and toxic pharmaceutical cocktails - often more prescriptions are taken than are needed just to offset the maladies that come from the first one that was prescribed to begin with.

Freedom never felt so good.

Bicep curls and bench presses are ok. But how FUNCTIONAL are they when applied in the day to day life of average men and women everywhere? Reaching to put tupperware away in the bottom cabinet doesn't require the ability to perform a bench press well - it requires healthy core strength. If you're not working your ENTIRE body during your workouts, YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TIME.

You can never do enough cardio to offset the poor nutrition that we have sunk to collectively as a nation. Even those who are "doing just enough cardio to offset the wings and beer" they are going to consume later that night, couldn't be on a track that is more wrong.

Participate in functional fitness. If you're not ramping up your training for an event - choose low to moderate impact fitness for healthy longevity. Your body simply exists to move and bring light into the dark places. And by simply moving - with actions and in truth - you honor God.

Have a strong day.

Psalm 139:14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

You are fearfully, wonderfully and NATURALLY made!

Every cell in your body is connected to its Creator. Every cell is crying out to be exercised, worked, used, fed, regenerated, and given thanks for. Moving is edifying and GLORIFYING to God for that is what he made you to do. GO into ALL nations we are called to do -- if we don't use it, we'll lose it.

Every existing cell in your body will be replaced with a new one within 5-7 years. Will the NEW cells be added to a foundation of muck and mush and nutritionless "food?" Will your health and wellness be set up to collapse under the weight of not having prepared for the future by preparing your finances, family, faith AND your well being?

Or will the new cells - the new YOU - be constantly built and rebuilt on a foundation that is stronger and stronger? You are NOT engineered to fade away and weaken until the day you take your last breath. You ARE engineered to keep a strong metabolism and outlook until the day you are called to glory. Give your new cells a reason to LIVE and your life will change.

Every cell in the lining of your GI tract is regenrated every 48 HOURS! If things "hang around in there" by not eating enough healthy foods and fibers, the likelihood that it will poison you from the inside out is NOT A LIKELIHOOD, IT IS A DEFINITE CERTAINTY!

Truly, literaly and figuratively, you are not the same person you were 5 years ago. New cells are there to replace the old. New experiences come to pass to bring wisdom and insight. Even the delicate valleys and crests in the shape of YOUR brain are unique as your OWN thoughts and experiences cause the shape of your "grey matter" to change over time.

The farther you go from man-made, chemical laden, artificially colored / flavored / sweetened water, drinks, foods and personal care products, the closer you will grow to God and His purposes for your life.

As you train, you have probably noticed that you've had good days and bad days. I would wager that you could trace some of your bad days to poor "fuel" - an order of fries snuck here and there, too little water being consumed, etc. I know that I can notice a clear difference in my own performance when I do those things.

I began changing my cheat day from Sunday to Saturday because I was noticing a HUGE lag in my body responding during my Monday workouts after having eaten not as well as usual on a Sunday. So now, with the cheat day on Saturday, I've had another full day (Sunday) to replenish my body with good things so that I don't miss a beat when Monday / early week workouts come.

And of course we all need our down time to relax our eating habits for a bit. BUT, remember how you perform with good and bad foods and PLAN FOR IT. Remember the old saying "garbage in, garbage out." You will be amazing for your exercise or for events for which you may be competing if you put good things in. And you will be amazing as compared to yourself. It doesn't matter what times others log, it only matters that you compare yourself to -- YOURSELF. A race begun -- for someone who has never taken this step before -- is already a race won.

As you change your body, you WILL change your life. There is no other option. It is a universal truth. Diversity will come. But you will be stronger because of it.

Be well and give thanks for every step you take and every breath you make. They are the best gifts.

Have a strong day.

Ah, the Band-Aid. The literal magic-bullet for so many cuts, scrapes, sores and rashes. And lately, also the figurative magic-bullet for so many hurts, pains, wounds and physical ailments.

Explanation begins with a brief history of the Band-Aid.

A Brief Treatise on the Band-Aid:
A 1921 invention by Earle Dickson to help his wife keep her fingers free from cuts when preparing food in the kitchen. Originally, it was a separate piece of gauze and tape that one had to assemble himself to achieve the final workable product. It was then covered with crinoline to help keep it sterile. Band-Aid sales were slow until Johnson & Johnson gave Boy Scout troops free Band-Aids as a publicity stunt. By 1924, Band-Aids were machine made, sold sterilized in 1939, and made with vinyl tape in 1958. And now, "Band-Aid" has worked its way into our vernacular replacing the proper term of "bandage" in the same way that "kleenex" or "xerox" is used interchangably with "tissue" and "photocopy" respectively. Barry Manilow was the one responsible for the jingle, "Stuck on Band-Aid" (click for info). And thanks to Google's handy advertising based on page-content, the banners on the right-hand side of this page most likely are showing at least one ad for bandages of some sort.
End treatise.

Even from the humble beginnings of the Band-Aid, its very nature implied that there was work to be done to create a workable, sterile bandage so that more work could then be done under the surface in allowing the wound to heal. The Band-Aid serves as a barrier to keep work being done externally (i.e. food prep in kitchen) from interfering with the health of the being wearing it and conversely serves as a barrier such that work underneath the skin can go on uninterrupted for proper healing.

But now, we are so spoiled with the hundreds of types, shapes, materials, and anti-bacterial treatments already present on the bandage, that all it requires is a trip to the medicine cabinet, tear open the sterile package, slap that baby on and get back to fighting your cage match. Done and done. We don't even have to work for it anymore.

And even as good as a Band-Aid is for the purposes for which it should be used, your mother always (or should have) told you, "you need to take that Band-Aid off every once in a while to let your sore get some air." Because taking a Band-Aid off allows nature's "Band-Aid" to form properly and do the work for which it was divinely created. This is also known as a scab. And when we constantly pick scabs? Maybe more pain, bleeding, discomfort, infection, and greater length of time until healing take place. And when we constantly avoid dealing with our issues? Maybe more pain, bleeding, discomfort, infection, and greater length of time until healing take place.

The basic nature of a Band-Aid is such that one can simply put it on a cut or sore and "magically," within days, whatever sore found underneath should be healed.

In reality, we are to change our dressings often. In reality, we should apply a salve to that wound for proper healing. In reality, we are to remove the bandage from time to time until healing is complete such that air can get to the wound. In reality, we must ingest healthy nutrition such that the wound can also be healed from the inside out by strengthening the immune system to fight infection and providing the proper nutrients and building blocks for tissue regeneration. There is rarely just one solution. The holistic approach requires deep and multi-faceted examination to get to the cure.

Some superheroes will simply save you from your impending doom. Great for them. But thats not enough for Holistic Man. Thats only a Band-Aid. And that's NOT great for you.

Whats that? You're on the ledge? You just can't take it any more? You need someone to come save you? Your average ordinary every-day superhero will simply step in and save you with superhuman strength if you jump. He may even talk you down and let you go about your business. To what end? To simply end up in the same place again?

Not Holistic Man. His goal, is to help you find out what led you to the "ledge" in the first place so that that won't be an issue again. Because if one simply runs from her problems, and doesn't get to the root cause of said problems, they will never be dealt with and will plague her forever. That's no way to live abundantly.

A dentist doesn't simply put a filling over the top of a cavity. If he did, it would be a festering, oozing, painful sore at some point in the future. Even painful to the point of ruling your life. Thus leaving you thinking about how to cover the pain with something else (drugs, alcohol, etc.) or, just as bad if not worse, avoiding thinking about what God's purposes are for you to fulfill because the pain is so great. Leaving you distracted from your real purpose on this earth.

It could have, most often, been a relatively simply problem to deal with as compared to a root canal, crown, false tooth - or somesuch. All of which can cause pain, discomfort, expense (time and money), and any number of other problems and inconveniences. Who wants that? Instead, if caught in time, the cavity can be drilled, cleaned, polished, and filled and brought back to luster with the proper treatment.

What seeds of the past have been planted in your life and covered over with Band-Aid after Band-Aid? What has been covered over with pride, prejudice, judgment or false-witness? "Hey, I can't even move my shoulder due to all the Band-Aid covering it, but thats ok, I don't want to move it anyway and risk further damage." Generally, not moving that shoulder will cause healing to take much longer. Holistic Man knows from experience.

When we interfere with the natural process God has put in place (scab) to heal our wounds, we are attempting to wrest control back from him in showing that we don't have faith in his infinite wisdom in knitting our body's processes. When we subvert our natural healing processes by avoiding proper nutrition, exercise and proper living, things will go haywire. We then attempt to put any number of man-made (and ultimately fallible) fixes - aka Band-Aids - over the top of the problem.

Whether it be too many man-made pharmaceuticals that completely upset our systems through toxicity and other ailments that then require other drugs just to fix the side-effects of the previous drugs prescribed. Whether it be belittling others to make ourselves feel better due to poor self-esteem. Or you pick one? Those are Band-Aids that simply don't address the root cause of the problem.

I encourage you brothers and sisters to find that bitter seed and "X" it from your life and cast it into the sea of forgetfulness (aka the peace of God). And its much easier for God to do this when we step aside and allow him to be the penetrating salve to our wounds. It still takes work on our part, but therein lies the mantra to be followed: its impossible for God to direct your steps if you're standing still.

You may not know which way to head. You may not know what treatment will extricate this seed of bitterness, pain or low self-esteem from your life, but as long as God has your steps to guide (whether they be feeble, bold or otherwise), he can bring you through it and to it. It is at that point where your faithful effort and his supreme will collide when your life truly becomes amazing. A potter can't throw clay on his wheel to create a gorgeous piece of ceramic without at least a lump of clay to work with.

Your steps give him something to work with. If no steps, nothing happens. And the mule that wouldn't move to help plow the field due to stubbornness? He is passed over time and again for the job until he decides to begin working again. Don't be the mule that is passed over and over again to participate in and to complete God's purposes in this life. He'll let you stay right in that one spot until you're ready to step lively. And as short as your time is in this plane of existence, there's no time to waste.

Make some steps. Make some changes. There is not any portion of this planet earth that does not undergo change over time due to wind, fire or water. Its somewhat arrogant that at some point we decide that we have it all figured out and that we can be the one entity on planet Earth that doesn't change. Change is good. Change brings new life. Change your Band-Aid for a treatment that gets to the root cause or the wound underneath won't truly heal.

Holistic Man has many tools on his super tool-belt.

But don't ask for a Band-Aid. He'll simply point you to the nearest drugstore.

Have a strong day.

• fast food
• buffets
• fried food
• apathy
• laziness
• lack of ambition
• political correctness
  
• the Segway
  
• illegal immigration
• obesity
• stress
• poor nutrition
• lack of personal responsibility
• "restless leg syndrome" and other fake diseases that prey on people's fears and convince them that they have a syndrome that they really don't have or that they could have avoided by taking better care of themselves
  
• living to excess
• the ACLU
• racial division constantly stirred and perpetrated by the likes of Jackson, Sharpton, Farrakhan
• low standards
• dumbing down
• pessimism
• more to come.....

things like this (http://www.teamhoyt.com/) will NOT be the downfall of america.