While building my relationship with
God, I gave up many things through Lent.
I quit smoking, gave up soft drinks, no more fried foods, no sweet
candy, very little junk food, and started exercising. It has been a long process, but the weight
came off, the energy levels went up, my overall outlook on life increased
significantly, I developed a sense of confidence, and most importantly, I
became healthy. I can do all things
through Him who strengthens me. It sounds
cliché and even like a worn out verse, but it is true. I found the time in my life to start living
full and happy with energy and confidence every day.
One of my friends keeps posting about
his high blood pressure. Every time I see
it, I think about how much he exercises and how much weight he has lost, but he
still smokes, eats crap, and powers up on artificial things like energy drinks. We all know these things are bad for you and
it makes it difficult to have sympathy for someone who knowingly makes the
decision to use products that cause adverse health effects. I decided I would show him that living right
pays off. I went to the same blood
pressure machine and checked mine. Well,
that backfired. It had not occurred to
me that I have not checked my blood pressure since that doctor told me I was
going to die. It was 152 / 91. I checked
it again when I got home only to have confirmation from a different machine.
I had an exhausting day that started
entirely too early. I nearly fell asleep
several times during the day and couldn’t wait for bedtime. As I laid there in bed, I pondered what went
wrong. Heck, I eat Cherrios nearly every
day. Could it be that I have been
backsliding or was it that my blood pressure never went down like I thought? Why was I so tired, because of the lack of
sleep the night before or is it the opposite, is the blood pressure making me
tired? I don’t feel like my blood sugar
is out of whack again. What is causing
my blood pressure to be so high and is there anything else going wrong? The questions went on and I fell asleep
worried.
At 4:30AM I woke up and started to
worry some more. I asked myself, “What
am I doing wrong?” Even though I don’t
drink soft drinks or eat fried foods, occasionally I do enjoy cheeseburgers, pizza,
and some other not so good for me foods.
Maybe drinking a few too many beers over the past year has put on an
extra 10 pounds. I do enjoy coffee every
morning. I exercise a fair amount; at
least three times per week I run and / or bike.
However, all of my exercise is from the waist down; nothing that is
above the waist to take care of this flabby donut. Now that I think about it, a lot has gone
wrong. Of course, lying there in bed
stressing over this is probably making my blood pressure even higher. Then it hit me again, “What am I willing to
do to stay alive?” I don’t want to die
anytime soon. I enjoy my life. None of the things mentioned above are worth
dying over. I can give up some coffee,
beer, and pizza. I can do different
types of exercises. I can live
right. Deep down inside, I know what I am
doing wrong; the question is, “What am I willing to do to stay alive and
actually live?”.
There is a saying, “No matter how
fast I go, I lap everyone on the couch”.
However, I realize that I am not competing against anyone
sitting on the couch or even running beside me; I have much better competition
than that. I have to race myself. I must push on harder, stronger, and better. I am a fierce competitor, and I am racing to
win my life.
