Is It Time For A Fresh Start?

I seriously considered making some New Year's resolutions this year to help me mend my ways. Historians tell us this ritual has been going on for about 4,000 years, so it must work for a lot of folks or the practice would have died out by now.

According to those who keep track of such things, two of the most often made resolutions are to exercise more and eat less.

If these items were reversed I'm sure most of us would be more successful at keeping them.

Why don't we achieve our health and fitness goals? We are smart enough. We usually know what to do—but don’t do what we know. We have good intentions but "busyness," procrastination and lack of discipline too often take control of our lives.

As Jim Rhone says in his wonderful book, LEADING AN INSPIRED LIFE, "Discipline is the bridge between thought and accomplishment. The rewards of a disciplined life are great, but they’re often delayed until some time in the future. The rewards for a lack of discipline, on the other hand are immediate but they are minor in comparison to the immeasurable rewards of consistent self-discipline."

An immediate reward for lack of discipline could be the pleasure sitting in the easy chair enjoying TV. A future reward for self-discipline would be a healthy, strong, energetic and vital body and mind.

Failure is not generally the result of one major incident, but rather of a long list of accumulated little failings. Skipping an exercise session or two isn’t going to ruin our health. But one missed day often leads to another—and then another. Soon a week goes by. And then a month, a year and a lifetime.

Success, on the other hand is the same process in reverse.

Discipline is like a set of magic keys that can unlock the doors to great health, happiness, high self-esteem, accomplishment, satisfaction and success. Discipline does many things, but the most important of all is what it does for your mind-set—it makes you feel better about yourself.

Even the smallest discipline can have an incredible effect on your attitude. And the good feeling you get—that surging feeling of self-worth that comes from starting a new discipline—is almost as good as the feeling that comes from the accomplishment the discipline brings.

A new discipline immediately alters your life direction. You don’t change destinations immediately—that is yet to come—but you can change direction immediately, and direction is very important. Discipline: the continuing process that brings all the good things. Anyone can start. It’s not, "If I could, I would"; rather, it’s "If I would, I could. If I will, I can."

So start the process today. Begin a new habit, no matter how small it is. Size isn’t important; whether or not you start and whether or not you continue are all that matter.

Remember that you are not alone. "Now glory be to God who by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes." Ephesians 3:20 Living Bible.

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