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A FREE EXTRA DECADE OF LIFE #20
STUCK FOREVER IN SEMINAR CITY
“Now you gotta go out there and do it. Class dismissed.”
I remember hearing about a young Christian woman who almost became addicted to self-help seminars. Over here was a three-day event on building a better marriage. A few weeks later she attended a retreat on parenting, and the following weekend her church held a symposium on communication skills. Not long after that she had the chance to fly to the East Coast and go for an intensive marathon training session on ways to define your boundaries and be more assertive. And really, on and on and on it went: learning, learning, learning at one seminar after another.
Finally someone said to her — maybe her husband after looking at the VISA bills with all the airline tickets and hotel charges: “You know, honey, there comes a time to stop attending seminars and simply DO the things you learned IN those seminars!”
And I guess we’ve gotten to that point here in our radio study. I can’t remember the last time we did 20 whole radio programs on just one topic, but that’s where we’ve been for four weeks now. Live 10 Healthy Years Longer is what the textbook has been telling us, and together we’ve thought about diet and calories, and quitting smoking, and eliminating caffeine, and having a positive, stress-free attitude, and maybe even the huge, life-changing goal of giving yourself — and God — the gift of a full day a week of Sabbath rest.
But now the seminar’s just about over. You’ve got all the handouts, the textbook, the goody bag with the Wyndham Hotel logo on it, that’s packed with discount coupons. But now it’s time to go to your car, drive home . . . and start to think about DOING.
So our two favorite authors, Jan Kuzma and Cecil Murphey, ask these sobering questions in their concluding chapter:
“Are you convinced you want to change your lifestyle? Are you committed to living longer and healthier?”
There’s an Old Testament story about a kid named Daniel who was certainly indoctrinated in what we’ve been calling the Live-Longer Lifestyle. He was a non-smoking, teetotaling, jogging, vegetarian Jesus freak if there ever was one. That was how Mom and Dad had raised him. But all at once, in Daniel chapter one, he’s pulled out of the seminar, so to speak, and thrust back into the real world. Where booze was on the banquet table, the waiters were bringing in trays loaded with fat and flesh food, and where the air was thick with Marlboro smoke. The University of Babylon had the atmosphere of Las Vegas East, and the ambience of the main showroom at the Mirage Hotel-Casino. And this kid, Daniel, and his three friends, had to face this question: Were they really going to DO all the things they’d studied? Would they honor God by following His blueprint?
It’s interesting that here in Daniel chapter one these four young fitness experts ask for — and get — a ten-day trial to show that their Live-Longer Lifestyle diet is a superior one. And in just ten days, Melzar can see that they’re the best and brightest in the kingdom, so he lets them have garden burgers the entire three years they stay in the palace.
And what I’m saying to you here on Friday is this: friend, your own Babylon might be waiting on Monday morning. You’ve decided to adopt a healthy diet, but next Monday the doughnuts will be piled high at the office. You want to try a more vegetarian lifestyle, but the whole gang goes out for lunch that very day, and it’s steaks and Bud light all around. You really want to quit smoking, but everyone in your carpool smokes, and all the old associations — the feel of handling a cigarette, the lighting up, that first puff, the coffee that goes with it . . . those are all powerful addictions.
Well, once again, Jan and Cecil have very graciously and wisely provided us with some closing bits of counsel that are so, so practical. The very first step they advise, as you shut off the radio and step back into the real world, is this: PREPARE.
VISUALIZE the problem moments, the possible confrontations. Picture them ahead of time: the snacks that are offered, the tobacco invitations, the alcoholic situations. Visualize them now, while you’re calm and while the goals you’ve chosen are in your mind. Picture yourself walking away; visualize yourself saying “No, thank you” in an easy, in-control way. Athletes do this, of course, even when they’re off the basketball court. They visualize that free throw, that fadeaway jumper, that drive toward the basket. Over and over, time after time. They picture the muscles working together, picture the ball arcing toward the hoop. Then when it’s Game Seven of the finals, it happens just that way again.
By the way, speaking of that Bible hero, Daniel, and his ten-day trial, Jan and Cecil go a bit further and suggest that you make 21 days a kind of goal. New habits are hard to build up, they say . . . and don’t we all know it? How many of us try something for just two or three days, and then drop it? Don’t do that! Determine that the new lifestyle goals you’ve chosen to incorporate . . . you’re simply going to WILL yourself to do them for at least 21 days. For three weeks, you WILL drink those eight glasses of water. You WILL cut your alcohol intake in half. You WILL walk 30 minutes a day for five days a week — even if it’s cold, windy, or raining.
It’s amazing how much momentum a good habit can build up in just three weeks, by the way. Imagine how you’ll feel if you’re down six or seven pounds already? Free from cigarettes, and saving twenty bucks a week on that habit? Noticing a 15% drop in cholesterol? Sleeping better at night because your last meal of the day is finished by 6:00 p.m.? I mentioned that T shirt we saw recently: “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.” In just 21 days you’ll already be starting to notice the changes, and the momentum you have will make it easier to keep going than to quit.
By the way, Cecil and Jan do also suggest that you might want to just select one health practice at a time to incorporate. Don’t do everything, all 20 things in this book, all at once. In fact, maybe pick one of the easier ones — like drinking eight glasses of totally free water every day. You can do that. In other words, get some successes under your belt immediately; get into a winning pattern right away. “Set small, weekly goals you can achieve” is how these two writers put it.
“Every success — no matter how small — enables you to move toward a healthier and longer life.”
And they tie that to this advice, which I think is terrific:
“Be moderate. You don’t have to achieve everything at once. If you wish to adopt the vegetarian lifestyle, start with one vegetarian meal a week.” And this is vital: “Don’t force the change on your family. Choose recipes that taste so good that family members want more. Use this approach in every change you decide to make.”
You’ll enjoy this next suggestion . . . and I hope you have many opportunities to enjoy it. But reward yourself for your successes, your achievements. Now, don’t use doughnuts and martinis as your rewards! But how about that new CD you’ve been wanting? Or that play you and your wife have been thinking of attending? Even just a good bubble bath, to pay yourself back for the fact that all this week, you went for that walk all five nights it was on the schedule.
Well, friend, here’s the last thing we want to say before we send you away from Seminar City and out to the parking lot. Get support. Enlist the help of friends. Share with others what you’re trying, and ask them to help you — the first 21 days and really, all the time. Make yourself accountable to people who care about you. Go walk those three miles with a mentor, and cut your fat intake with a friend.
And along with that, please do consider making the God of heaven your very best and closest Partner in all of this. We’ve shared before the Bible verses which promise His power:
“I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens me.”
And when you’re tempted to chuck it all, keep this marvelous promise in mind from First Corinthians 10:
“No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. GOD IS FAITHFUL, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength.”
And of course, you have HIS strength too! Please bear in mind that He WANTS you to enjoy these victories! Believe me, He wants you to be smoke-free, and alcohol-free, and cholesterol-free. You know it! He wants for you to enjoy the better life that comes from sleeping well, walking well, eating well. He wants you to have those extra ten years. He wants you to experience the rest, the soul-nourishing benefits, the weekly restoration of a relationship with HIM that comes as you celebrate His Sabbath. Take a chance on Him! Try it! Friend, all of heaven is on your side, cheering your successes and there to graciously pick you up again if you have a lapse.
This isn’t Lonnie talking, but our Friend God Himself:
“Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is.”
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