“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV)
“As for you brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” (2 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV)
“Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all people was grieved, every man for his sons and daughters. But david strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” (1 Samual 30:6 NKJV)
So where were we? Oh yes, after squandering the gains in my life once again, in His infinite grace, my Daddy granted me a second “Personal Reawakening.” This reawakening was just as significant as the reawakening of 7 years ago, however, the following challenge has been much harder to fulfill.
Have you ever noticed that each time you overcome an obstacle, correct a problem, or make a positive change, and then slide back into the old ways, it becomes harder to get up and overcome again? Sadly, with each repeated failure we pick up more baggage, create more scars, and produce more emotional damage. My advice is to be proactive and stay as far away from repeated issues as possible. Stay as close to God as you can, and follow his ways before you find yourself in need of His intervention.
Things as they are, I am now just about 12 months into my current round of battles to overcome obesity and laziness. I am continuing to learn and grow each and every day. I am being reminded of the things that I have already been taught, and am learning a few new things along the way. One thing that I have learned is that laziness and procrastination are evil twins. If I let them, they will tag team against me and keep me trapped in my current condition.
For many years I was the acting President of the Procrastinator’s Society. About 5 years ago I resigned contingent upon finding my replacement. I remember clearly the day that I resigned. The first thing that I did was decide to get started finding my replacement “first thing tomorrow.” Somehow tomorrow has not yet arrived. Perhaps it is because by the time tomorrow gets here it is no longer tomorrow, but today. In any case, I am still looking for my replacement. Today is the day to step down and run as far as possible in the opposite direction of the Society!
Here is the good news. While I am not setting any speed records, over the lost 11 months I have lost 50 pounds. Another 50 and I will be back where I left off when I allowed life to disrupt my progress. So what is the “bright side” of all of this?
I am learning to spend more time looking forward then I do looking back.
I am learning to remember past “failures” in light of lessons learned in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future.
I am learning to cast all of the baggage, scars, and damage, on Jesus.
We’ll pick this up tomorrow as we continue to move forward from…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 363: Keep On Fighting Part 2