We all have to make choices and be accountable for the consequences. Our responsibility is to define our priorties, weigh consequences, and choose right over wrong. Let's say you think you don't have time to exercise. So you don't. You avoid considering the eventual consequences of your couch-potato lifestyle, as if by magic those consequences might not one day visit you personally. Stroke, heart attack, diabetes? Not me, please. In general, people like to shrug off personal responsibility for their actions, particularly if those actions have negative consequences. The truth is wrong choices eventually lead to chaos.
How can you make better choices? Using the example above again, evaluate how you're currently using your time and explore what changes can be made. Let's say that while you leave for work by 8:15 a.m., you don't get up until 7:30. Find extra time to exercise by getting up an hour earlier. Look at your present schedule and deteremine how you can rearrange it to accomadate an exercise routine. Our choices should typically be guided by what'ts right notnecessarily by what's easiest, most comfortable, or most convenient. That's really what self-discipline is all about. A healthy lifestyle teaches us that.
So ask yourself: Do you want benefits or do you want negative consequences? It's you who gets to choose. The exciting news is that the personal responsibility you develop through a fit, active lifestyle will transfer to the rest of your life as you begin to take control of all that you do.
Remember: Choose wrong and here comes the problems, sooner, or later. Life is not about instant gratification. One of my mantras early on "Short-term pain and discomfort can lead to a lifetime of excitement, wellness, happiness, and joy. Short-term pleasure can lead to a myriad of problems." That is universal truth, and you can hang your hat on it.
From Tony Horton's book, Bring It!
No comments:
Post a Comment