Drop the Dead Weight

I started a weight loss program last week. Something I have “started” many times before. But there is something different this time. I don’t have any grandiose ideas of losing 50 pounds in two months or anything like that. I have realistic expectations and goals and I am willing to do what it takes to meet them. I don’t feel anxious or feel I have something to prove and I’m prepared for setbacks and I know I can keep on moving through them. I also know I have the necessary tools and support to succeed because it is a proven program that has worked for others and will work for me if I work it. Now as I said earlier I have started this before but this time something is different. I saw an old picture of myself and changed my mind about what I was capable of. In this picture I was probably 30+ years younger and much….much smaller but that wasn’t it. I looked into the eyes of that young woman and for a split second I remembered what it felt like to be her. Full of optimism and potential. Excited about what the future held and eager to possess it. Ready, willing and capable of taking on circumstances to have the life I wanted. This was a young woman who had not lived as much life as I have lived now but still had had her share of heartbreak and disappointment and still managed to have the resolve to move forward. And in that instant I realized what my problem was. Somewhere along the line I had been conditioned by life. Somewhere along the line I allowed life to change me instead of me changing my life. I am inspired when I look at the young girl in that picture. But I am encouraged by the woman I am now. Because now I have something that younger me did not have and that is wisdom. As I said before that young woman hadn’t seen as many years as I have seen now. She hadn’t experienced some of the harsh realities this older woman has. Now wisdom can be a tricky thing and used against you, especially if you received it through harsh circumstances. Because now that you know what could happen it can paralyze you and prevent what should happen. Wisdom is to guide you through life not make you hide from it. The key to wisdom as with anything is balance. Jesus says we are to be as wise as serpents but gentle as a dove.

Matthew 10:16 KJV

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Learn from life but don’t allow life to change you. When you couple youthful enthusiasm with the wisdom you obtain along the way you can end up with a pretty cool outlook on life. My weight will probably always be one of those things I will have to work at and that’s okay. Because with the optimism of the younger me coupled with the wisdom of the older me I know I can conquer and maintain.

I know I spend a lot of time in this blog talking about internal issues that tend to hinder us. That’s because Jesus wants us whole. When life seems to get us down He wants us to remember that He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly.

John 10:10 KJV

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

He knows all too well how our internal issues affect our external lives and the lives of those around us. Here is the deal, if you are wounded you react and act out of that pain. Which will make you hurt yourself or others and if you are a Christian operating in this manner you are a bad representative for Christ. It’s not that you don’t love Him, it’s not that you don’t believe in Him it’s just that you are hurting. Picture a wounded pet. Your pet is capable of biting you (the one they love) if they are hurting and feel threatened. A wounded Christian can do a lot of damage because others look to you for support, guidance and a picture of what Christ looks like. The more whole we are the better we feel and the better we make others feel and the better representatives we are, after all we are His ambassadors.

Life is a journey that we are to learn from not be a victim of.  Some of us can learn at the feet of someone we love, trust and admire. Some of us learn under the foot of someone who means us no good. Some of us learn from educating ourselves. Some of us learn from bumping our hard heads. And most of us learn from a combination of all of these. Don’t just stumble through life and let it happen to you. Remember this:

Proverbs 4:7

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Get what you need. Learn what you must learn and let the rest go.

Drop the dead weight and keep your head up. God Bless

Love, Ms. Wanda, GAC