Think About It

Throughout my life, I have struggled with controlling my weight. Now, while I am sure there are some people who have legitimate issues with weight gain, mine is very simple – I eat too much (especially of the bad stuff) and exercise too little. Honestly, it is as simple as that. In reflecting on this observation, you might be asking yourself, “Well, why doesn’t he do something about it?”. Interestingly, that is my question as well. I know what I need to do when planning out meals or thinking about going to the gym; but then I pass by Cold Stone and think, that sounds really good right now or I think about needing to go to the gym, but snuggle down deeper into my nice warm recliner. My problem isn’t knowing what to do, it is mastering impulse control. It is going beyond rational thought and making the right choices. While this is a challenge in weight control, there is another place where many of us struggle with it – sinful temptation. When we think logically about the temptati...

Not long ago, a friend of mine called me and asked a rather interesting question. The crux of the query was if I believed that people were influenced by their opinion of the afterlife. In other words, do some people avoid things because they are afraid they are going to go to hell if they do them … or maybe it’s the contrast, do some people do things because they hope it will ensure them the blessings of heaven? As I thought about those concepts, I have to admit that I wasn’t as convinced as I should be. In fact, my first thought was that I didn’t think most people really gauged what they did by the eternal impact it would have. In retrospect, I have begun to wonder if we have done a disservice to people by not talking about the ultimate consequences of our actions. We do a good job of encouraging people to do the right things because it makes this world a better place to live. We have even shaped some people’s behavior by making them afraid to do things because there might be n...

Happy Ground Hog’s Day! According to tradition and folklore Punxsutawney Phil will pop out of his hole, look around for his shadow and determine if we are going to have to endure more cold weather. Cute concept – but not all that reliable. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I like Phil as much as the next guy, but we have to be realistic about where we turn for our information. Phil may be a neat looking little guy, but I am not about to base my beliefs about the rest of the winter on a rodent. I still view the weather experts’ fourteen day forecast with skepticism, an overgrown gopher doesn’t instill a level of confidence in me. As we watch and wait for Phil’s appearance, let’s think about other areas where so-called expertise may not be all that reliable. Should we be willing to listen to lessons on morality by media stars? Are scientists the best sources of information about theology? Should athletes be our go-tos on cultural and social struggles. No, I am not saying t...

The other morning I was standing in front of the microwave waiting for it to warm up some coffee and I had a troubling thought, “Well, that is another minute I will never get back.”. As I look back on that thought, the first thing that comes to mind is how much I have been influenced by instant gratification – it took a whole minute to warm up my coffee. Yet, the thing that really got me to thinking was how much time I waste. While I see the value in “down time” and relaxing, how many minutes, hours, days (and maybe even years) have I wasted doing nothing … or even worse, doing something that is counter-productive? How many hours have I spent watching TV shows I really didn’t like just because that’s what I did? How many hours have I sat around surfing the web just because I didn’t find anything better to do? Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not opposed to watching TV or movies or enjoying the great big wide world of the internet. My problem is doing it out of mere habit wit...

I woke up the other morning thinking about how much divides us – more specifically, how adversarial we have become. It seems that in so many aspects of our lives, we have adopted the mantra – You are either with me or against me, period! In today’s society this seems to have been magnified to include agreement on just about everything. We have a tendency to buy into some dogma then, unless yours aligns with mine, not only can we not be friends, we can’t even be amicable! The more I thought about this issue, the more I began to see that we have missed the mark on this. Is our challenge being “correct” or being “right”? In other words, have we become so partisan that we have lost sight of the need to find the truth, no matter who wins? Folks, our so-called adversaries might not be as ignorant as we give them credit. In fact, they may be more accurate than we are on some things. What is the harm in learning from each – and maybe even leaning on each other so that we can all becom...

The other day a friend of mine and I got to talking about running away. As I reflected on this, I remembered a few times in my youth when I thought about running away, but it was hard to get too far from home when you weren’t allowed to cross the street. Now that I am old enough to cross the street (and even go across the county) I still have trouble with the efficiency of running away. The problem at my age is that while it sounds good to get away from everything – and maybe even start over again – no matter where you go, you are still there with you! We might be able to change our environment, but for most of us, that isn’t the problem. The real challenge for most of us isn’t where we are, it’s who we are. When we find ourselves wanting to change our surroundings, let’s look deep inside ourselves and investigate if the issue is our setting or ourselves. Sure, there may be points in our lives when it might be necessary (or fun) to do something different, but let’s not pin our ...

Spending time in Texas during the 1970s I was never a fan of Chuck Noll. As a Dallas Cowboys fan back in the day, I saw the Pittsburg Steelers as almost as big an enemy as the Washington Redskins – the biggest difference was that my team didn’t have to play them twice each year. Unfortunately, a couple of those occasions were in Super Bowls and my team lost both times. While there are some quotes by Chuck Noll that I didn’t appreciate (such as, “Mamas, don’t let your sons grow up to be Cowboys … or Oilers.”), I recently came across one that I appreciated. In reflecting on a couple of teams Coach Noll observed, “We were really lucky and fortunate in the ‘70s because we got a group of not only good football players but good people … a group that wanted to be together and wanted to be the best.”. As I read that quote, I got to thinking about how that could be applied to more than just football teams. When people cultivate the ability to be good and the desire to work together, great...