This is the 50 foot homemade boat that took our Uncle Peter 18 years to build.
He worked on it every day.
There’s only one rule to success: Never give up.
Uncle Peter
(Like going to the gym, or taking another step on your spiritual walk.)
(What are you building?)
Thank you for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
Previously, we proved definitively that we need to KEEP GOING BACK to the gym.
“But HOW do we keep going back to the gym, given that we got tired from our workout yesterday?” you ask.
No problem! That’s easy, friend! We fake our work out SO THAT we are rested enough to get back in the car and drive to the gym again tomorrow!
Join people in sixty countries who read this! (What? Hey, I don’t know why they read this, either! I think it’s because I’m cool.)
“But HOW does one fake a workout?” you ask, still puzzled. Oh, that’s easy, too! Here are four (easy!1) tips you can use to fake your workout! )
1.My favorite hack is to drink a LOT of water.
And by a LOT, I mean, a LOT!
You’re a thirsty person! Every rep, you may need another drink or two! The bonus of this approach is that what goes in must go out, and so you actually have a VALID (!) excuse to go to the bathroom.
Stay there for a while.
Maybe text someone while you’re in there! Then check your hair. Did it fall out of your hat while you worked out? Re-adjust it.
2.Wear a hat or a shirt that doesn’t quite fit right, so you keep stopping to adjust it.
Like maybe your hair keeps falling out of your hat, and you have to keep stopping and being annoyed at it.
This doesn’t work if you’re bald, but you can still choose a hat that’s the wrong size and keep stopping to adjust it. You can even curse your item as you do so, which makes you appear more authentic.Take a break and drink some water while you adjust your clothing items!
3.Listen carefully for exercise adaptations, such as when the instructor says, “Do this type of harder exercise if you are feeling very strong today.” Make a mental note of that. Then choose the lightest weight that you possibly can and the easiest exercise that you possibly can.
Wait until everyone else has almost finished their set.
Then, while they are standing around watching the (slackers – like you!) FINALLY finish up, do the exercise with the added spice, the one that is a little bit harder. Let them look at you. Humbly keep your gaze away from people so that they don’t suspect you of tricking them.
4.Choose the exercise bike that is the “easier” type. For example, at our gym, the “assault” bike is significantly harder than the “spin” bike. They’ll give you a higher goal for the easier bike because it’s easier to achieve.
Then, when you’re standing around tomorrow, waiting to start a new exercise class at the gym, you can casually mention what you pedaled or what your other such number was.
Remember to leave out the fact that you were on an easier bike. And they will surely be impressed!If they catch onto your tactics and ask you what kind of bike you were using, feign confusion or change the subject right away.2
Remember: If we keep going BACK to the gym, we will (eventually!) get (a bit!) stronger!
Oh, and our spiritual journey works on the same principle!
(What is the nudge from Holy Spirit that you sense may be your next step on your spiritual journey, friend? Let’s encourage each other to keep going, on our physical, spiritual and emotional journeys, to learn to soar in life.
So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit.
And I wish you every success as you get more S.T.U.P.I.D., friends. (S.T.U.P.I.D. is an “acronym”, which basically means, get more AWESOME. See HERE or HERE for clarification.)
I hope this helps you again today!
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credit: Is He Faking His Discouragement? (Who Knows!) by Sander Sammy on Unsplash
1 Anyone can do this!
2 Pro-tip: This tactic works well for avoiding a lot of other annoying additional clarifying questions on other conversation topics as well!
Adult giraffes sleep for approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours per day, one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal.
“Given SUPER COOL animals like giraffes barely sleep, why do humans have to sleep so long?” I asked my Biology professor.
“We still don’t really understand why humans sleep so much1,” was his honest reply. We spend 1/3 of our lives SLEEPING, and predators could take that opportunity to eat us! Bad idea, body!
But I discovered the answer to this question, which has plagued me for decades, in the most surprising place this week!
People in 60 countries read my online writing, so why not be uniquely you and join what everyone else is doing?
I was reading a book by former New York Times writer Trish Harrison Warren yesterday, and this is what she said, solving the mystery about sleep!
In the Christian tradition, sleep has always been seen as a way we practice death. . . When we go to sleep, we get as close as we who are alive and healthy come to the helplessness of death. And we do it every night.
Tish Harrison Warren in Prayer in the Night
So THAT’S why we sleep so much!
That finally makes sense! But Ah! I did it AGAIN!
I talked about death!
Oh no! That’s culturally inappropriate! Ah! Sorry about that. However, I knew you would also appreciate having this mystery solved!
“But wait, where is the hope of a better life in thinking of sleep as a practice for death?” you ask me. Great question! Being forced to remember bad news that EVEN I (might!) die one day (sorry for the shock!) awakens our eyes to the possibility of good news!
For example, in the song below, Jeremy Riddle reminds us that even death can be swallowed! That’s pretty cool! And that sounds hopeful to me!
Death swallowed by triumphant Life! . . . now in a single victorious stroke of Life . . . death [is] gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ.
Also, when we live with the end of our lives in mind, we find joy in remembering that we are alive (again!) today! It’s helpful to remember things you forgot, like that being alive is a gift. Every other petty annoyance comes into a (slightly) more proper perspective when we remember these kinds of facts.
And then comes the joy. (Wait for it, friend . . . )
After your morning coffee, we can discuss some more helpful things about death together!
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credit – Now THERE’S Sleep Wisdom! by Selenay Balkan on Unsplash
1 If you are “researching” the answer to this question, remember to discern the difference between the two questions: “What do we do when we sleep?” and the deeper question, “Why do we sleep so much?”
Last time, I clearly explained WHY you need to fake working out at the gym.
To summarize THAT excellent article, remember, the main goal is NOT to do a hard workout, but to COME BACK to the gym tomorrow!
And if it takes faking a workout to do this, well, that’s just the way life rolls!
People in 60 countries have read my writing, so be authentic by joining in with what everyone else is doing!
In a future article, I’ll outline 4 “Helpful” tips for HOW exactly to fake your workout!
Wait – I see you asking, “Who would read that stuff?” Well, a lot of others at the gym and who stay home from the gym seem to need this kind of help, I’m guessing, given how many others:
Hey, we’re all (a bit!) messed up! We might as well admit it! Or at least use our neuroses to our advantage, and at least get stronger at the gym!
“But why would we do all the work of pretending to fake a workout?” you ask. Great question! Well, our other options are to:
But WOW! No Thanks! In my humble experience, those approaches are WAY too expensive in therapy costs and WAY too time-consuming in terms of hours spent in a counselling office!
For those of you annoyingly “healed” ones, here’s a few other quotes to keep you going.
The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.
and
Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God . . .
Sometimes, though, you have to ask, “Why be fixed later, when you can cobble together an approach that works for you to scrape through life now?” At least, that is what I always say! And, “We all simply are who we are!” as all of us know, already!
And so, as we conclude today’s article, Julie Meyer sings, “You made it so simple, God, anyone can do this,” which I am listening to as I write, and I include here below – Oh! And this reminds me!
I almost forgot to mention that healing always comes that way, too, friend, as we make time for the Holy Spirit to do His beautiful work of feeding our souls, which are incessantly hungry for affirmation. We could receive our affirmation from God instead of from people (I.e., He already loves you!).
If remembering God loves us anyway helps us care less about looking like a COMPLETE LOSER (no offence), when we are learning to show up at the gym, well, that’s another approach, too!
I hope this helps you!
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credit: Is He Faking It Or Not? Who Knows! (My Point!) by Gordon Cowie on Unsplash
We celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary this month. And you know, on reflection, it’s actually easy to be married for 25 years! The trick is to understand power.
The power must stay balanced.
Thank you for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
For example, you’ll want to reserve some power for later, when you make the inevitable mistakes all of us tend to make. It’s handy to have some extra power in your pocket for moments like these. This is so you have the upper hand and can wield some power, so you don’t have to spend quite as long in the slumps or groveling.
So, for example, for our 25th wedding anniversary dinner, I brought a small surprise present for my husband.
This is a perfect way to gather little memories to cherish forever! And also, this is a perfect opportunity for you to put some extra power into your pocket! Here’s how to store up power, using this ACTUAL example1 from my own life!
For example, that morning I drank all the cream for our morning coffees because I didn’t feel like sharing the last little bit, my husband COULD be mad at me for that, but THANKFULLY I had a little extra power in my pocket saved up. It was wrong of me to drink ALL the remaining coffee cream2 but thankfully, I had a bit of extra power in my pocket, from remembering in detail the last mistake he made, from times that I had stored it up for occasions just such as this! And voila!
The power balance is restored.
Love . . . doesn’t keep score of the sins of others
Caveat: I find that the source for this quote isn’t ALWAYS completely helpful in proving my point of view, as noted above, though it does have many useful bits that help me see the world in ways that align with how I see things! The rest of this chapter of this ancient text says a LOT about loving well, but I, for one, always find the rest of the chapter completely confusing! Well, “Learn what you can where you can!” as I always say!
The summary of this helpful advice is really CYA.
CYA is an acronym that stands for “Cover Your…” I dunno. I think it’s “Arsenal.” I can’t remember the last word of that acronym.
In CYA, you want to build up protection, cover your troops and have enough arsenal in your pockets and at your disposal for your next battle.
But you see, friends? With helpful strategies such as these, it’s easy! Being married for 25 years is a snap!
For more helpful advice, check out additional marriage advice HERE, HERE and more coming as we enter our 26th year.
You’re welcome, everyone!
Good luck!
Thank you for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credits: US! by A Friend, A Kind And Considerate Present! by Me, And “US” In Another 25 Years! by Godz1 on Unsplash
1 That you will want to emulate. (Of course!)
2 Yes! I would do it again! But why would you ask that!
It’s EASY to be exceptional!
Proof:
Click HERE to continue reading.
People in 58 countries read my writing, so join in with what everyone else is doing! (Wait! I meant “Be Uniquely You!”)
The problem with God is that He always has the wrong priorities.
For example, the greatest parenting priority for me is OBVIOUSLY that my kids tidy their messes more often, so I don’t have to run around behind them all day, cleaning up after them! Who wants to be Martha, tidying after others all day? Obviously, she’s the loser of this historical story, and the words Jesus said to her are proof that ME cleaning up is a BAD, unspiritual idea!
People in over 50 countries have read my online writing, so be uniquely you and join in with what everyone else is doing!
So obviously my top parenting priority is that my kids NEED to do a MUCH better job cleaning up!1
But God, in all His wisdom, dares to impress upon my heart that this “kids-learning-to-clean-up-after-themselves” thing is a SMALL problem in the big scheme of things. And the little lie that my adorable 3-year-old told that was super cute, and I tried not to laugh at it? The one that I forgot about, and then I bought her an ice cream after?
A big problem, I sensed Holy Spirit whisper, nudge, remind me, warn.
Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life.”
Oh come on, really? Who do you think you are . . . God? And then I remember who is bringing the words of the ancient text to life in my heart.
And the weird thing is that when I TRY it God’s way, and keep HIS big things big and MY small things small, for SOME REASON, parenting gets a whole lot easier in the long term.
Spending hours and hours working and sweating to impress upon my kids the NEED to tell the truth literally saved me from self-imploding when other problems cropped up in their teens. The kids were still messy, but I could trust that they were generally truth-tellers and so, well . . .
God was right!
The messy room problem was a lot easier to sidestep by simply closing the door to their bedrooms and pretending our house was smaller.
But the “truth” thing? It was more important than I thought. Try it sometime!
For more proof that God is (a bit) smarter than us, I know a mom who (seriously!) said, “Lying isn’t such a big deal. Stop making a big deal out of little things. We don’t worry about that kind of stuff with my kids.” When her husband was finally caught lying about the fact that he DIDN’T have an affair (he did), I wondered if she finally came round to the conclusion that God is smarter than us?
Probably not.
That’s a hard truth to learn. Not even I2 have learned THAT truth, yet! Anyway, I hope you jump on God’s side and feel that God’s priorities are ACTUALLY best for your joy and happiness.
Even if God is wrong, it seems to work out better for us in the long run when we follow His priorities for our lives, I’ve noticed.
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credit: How Dare He Think He’s So Smart? by Ben White on Unsplash
1 Yes! So I don’t have to!
2 Someone who writes about spiritual stuff (!) online, therefore I am obviously know a lot of stuff!
So, I’ve been feeling like I am spinning in ever smaller circles, about to be sucked down the drain of life, lately.
I woke to this startling reality recently in my otherwise perfect life (Of course, my life is perfect! Hello! I write and provide “advice1” online, after all!).
Click HERE to continue reading.
People in over 50 countries read my online writing, so be uniquely you, and why not join in with what everyone else is doing?
Last time we briefly touched on ecological mysteries that can both inspire us and are better left never thinking about again.
People in over 50 countries read my online writing, so be uniquely you and join in with what everyone else is doing!
Not so spiritual mysteries!
Spiritual mysteries always add a drop of water to our parched throats, and yet also increase our spiritual thirst for more.
Feeling like your spiritual life is a desert, and you haven’t seen any rain for a long time for your little seeds planted deep, that you desperately hope will emerge someday?
No problem.
Let the rain of God’s presence water the spiritual garden He has planted within you, as you meditate and chew on some more spiritual mysteries, including these three today:
I already definitively proved last time that apricots (and by extension – YOU!) are a profound mystery.
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out . . . Body and soul, I am marvelously made! . . . You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Think about how AMAZING you are1 for a bit!
And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all.
There are . . . things that amaze me . . . that I don’t understand . . . how a man loves a woman.
Which reminds me – my husband and I are celebrating 25 years of marriage this month! Yes, marriage is hard at times2, but don’t worry – if you take my advice, such as that given (for FREE!!) HERE and HERE, you’ll find out that marriage isn’t really that hard, after all, for example! Oh! And don’t forget to lean hard on God and beg Him for help! That never hurts, if you are looking for more help than what I’ve already given in the articles I’ve linked to here!
You’re welcome!
Good luck!
I speak about the mystery of death HERE and HERE. Nothing ushers us into an awareness of the spiritual realm more than FINALLY admitting that this event MIGHT EVEN (!) happen to me (not JUST others! For example!), ONE DAY.
Behold! I tell you a mystery . . . . the dead will be raised . . . then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. . . O death, where is your sting?”
But there’s better news than a black box and the lights going out forever, friends! It’s NOT just death, but something cool after death! Yah!
As the song below sings, “if eternal life is worth living, shouldn’t it start now?” consider pausing for a moment and sitting in the quiet space where the love of God is being poured out, like water from a tap. Got time to adjust your position and skooch a little more to the left (or right?) by adjusting our mindset so we can sit just under that tap for a bit, friend? Nothing turbocharges our spiritual journey like a drop of God’s love.
May you receive this love, poured out from the unstoppable faucet, today, friend, as you take a moment to meditate on the spiritual truths that are all around us, but that we are often too blind3 to see.
Thanks for liking me! I like you too! Let’s journey together!
Photo Credits: It’s Dry Out There, Some Days! by Clark Wilson on Unsplash, Wait, Water Was There All Along? by David Ballew on Unsplash
1 And by extension how AMAZING I am!
2 (Mostly because of HIM, I’m sure!)
So today we’re talking about mysteries.
Ecology has many mysteries that are a delight to plumb. For example, read about the wonder of amazing dragonflies HERE. And learning about some of the ecological mysteries of the dragonfly encouraged me on my life journey.
Click HERE to continue reading.
People in 58 countries (!) have read my online writing, so be uniquely you and join in with what everyone else is doing!
Restoring Life 