Giant Slaying Mode

 The advantages of getting older keep making themselves known to me. Yes, I said "advantages"! One of them is being able to look back on situations and see how much I've learned or grown through something that once nearly destroyed me in some way. Growth is painful most of the time, that's for sure. In speaking with a new-ish 84-year-old friend about life in general, she revealed to me that each time she went through something painful, she chose to become stronger. We have to make a choice. When life circumstances try to beat us or take us down, we can go down with them or we can fight and become stronger. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who gives me strength. 

Norm Sawyer, a dear friend of mine, writes in his new book, Discipline is Freedom, "Disciplined people are not special, they are people who failed many times in the different endeavors of life but kept getting up until the failures became less frequent....Disciplined people have fought their giants over and over again until the giants were defeated and bound with the same chains they used to keep the undisciplined effective." I highly recommend Norm's new book, for which I have written the foreword. It can be found on his website at Sirnorm.com or on Amazon.com. I like that statement, "disciplined people are not special," because I think sometimes saying so becomes a cop-out for others. "Oh, yeah, that Norm...he's only fit and healthy because..." and then the excuses start. No, Norm came back from near death by the grace of God, and by the choices he decided to make to get healthy and committed to fitness. Those were not easy changes at all!  We cannot look at disciplined people as though they are "special" or "favored" by God or anything else. They put in the time, the effort, and the work. And yes, the prayer. Making excuses will only keep us from changing or living our own best life. 

Discipline was the featured letter "D" I wrote about way back when I was writing my alphabet blog series, if you were following back then. It's truly at the heart of any positive transformation in our lives. It starts with a commitment to keep choosing the right things over the things that are holding us hostage. It's a daily repetition of behaviors that lead us to success in any area of our lives. We want better, we have to do better over and over. No one is going to do it for us. Not a pill, not a magic formula, and certainly not wishing and hoping. Wouldn't it just be easier though? But again, if it was, we wouldn't come out of it stronger, and we'd probably eventually go back to the same behaviors that got us in the mess in the first place. 

So why is it such a pain to be disciplined about some things? Because we all want "it" now, I think is the simple answer. Immediate gratification has been pounded into our brains at every turn, and we buy into it, whether subconsciously or not. Weight loss?...don't get me started. Hungry?...fast food. I could go on with all the promises of easy fixes out there, but I'm sure you get the idea. We are hard-wired to want fast and pleasurable things (french fries) and we want to avoid difficult feelings (exercise) as human beings. Because of that, we find self-control very challenging. But it's not impossible and we don't have to give in to the lure of laziness. 

Both of the friends I mentioned suffered near life-ending health crises. It was a combination of God's intervention and a commitment of personal discipline that led them both back to health. Both of them could run circles around me! Now, I have certain limitations, but still! One is just into the 70's and one is near the mid-80's. I listen to them, because they have the wisdom I want, and they have the results that speak!  Job 32:7  I thought, 'Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.' They are who I want to be when I "grow up."

Am I disciplined? In some things, yes, very much so. But I have had to start, restart, and start again certain disciplines over and over, and maybe you are in the middle of that cycle as well. It's not easy to make changes, even if they are the best thing for your mind, body, and health. Giving up is a cop-out, it feels terrible, and we do it anyway, but the important thing is (As Norm says) we keep getting up until we break those chains that keep holding us hostage. What is it that we need to do differently? Get God in on it. Write down a plan and conquer it. With prayer, with purpose, with determination, with strength, with commitment, with practice, and with discipline. Kick that giant out for good! 

I made my plan this week, and I'm in giant-slaying mode until I succeed. As I said, an advantage to growing older is that we hopefully learn from our mistakes. We can see where we've either stagnated, learned, have more to learn, or have grown and have the ability to share knowledge. We should be motivated by the desire to share what we learn, as my older friends do. We should aspire to be an example to our future generations coming up. But most of all, we should be motivated by a desire to live the best life we know we should be living for ourselves and for others who love us. We should not be intimidated by what we don't know yet, or by our failures and lessons yet unlearned. We should be gentle with ourselves and tough on the issues we face. Nehemiah 8:10 for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Life is a process of absorbing and facing experiences as they come and I know that God's timing is so much better than mine. One thing I have learned is that even while I think there are so many things I have messed up or missed, God is showing me that in many ways my life with all of its letdowns and lessons is just beginning. If we are willing to do life with God, He will show us His best way to go about things. We just have to put in the time, the energy, and the heart that His discipline requires of us. 

Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. 

Isaiah 46:4