Skip to main content

Check Your Fuel



How often do you check your fuel? Well, when it comes to your vehicle, you probably have a reminder right there on your dash showing where your fuel level sits. At the gas station, you have choices for several different grades of gasoline, all methodically tested to perform at different levels of efficiency.  The higher the octane level, the higher performance the fuel is capable of producing. Some vehicles will run fine at 85 octane gasoline, but a Ferrari requires 93 or even higher. The more performance desired, the higher quality of fuel required.

Checking your car’s fuel is convenient and straightforward, but how often do you check the fuel for your life? Your body requires fuel to perform and junk food fuel will produce garbage performance. Your mind also needs to be fed, and sludgy, toxic fuel will produce destructive tendencies in your thought patterns and perspectives.

You can’t expect great results with mediocre fuel. If you desire excellence as an outcome, your life will require superior fuel. And just as outcomes are tied to inputs, a half-hearted effort is like mixing water with your gas. Things aren’t going to run well and the consequences will be costly. You can’t really be too upset with what is coming out of your life if you were never careful about what was going into it.

Your life will reflect the quality of the fuel you’ve provided it. After all, it’s exactly what got you to where you are right now. So the question is: Are you feeding your life with the right fuel to get you where you say you want to go?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on...

The Art of Intentionality

  “Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make you.” – Richie Norton   I am not even sure who Richie Norton is, but I love that quote! I imagine a ship drifting out to sea, pushed around by the wind and the waves. No course of direction, yet the captain is frustrated when the ship ends up dashed against the rocks, trapped on a sandbar or marooned on an inhospitable island. It is easy to complain when life takes us where we do not want to go. But who is really to blame if we have never set our sails to align us along an appropriate course? Do we blame the waves, wind and the weather? Or should we blame the captain of the ship? It is our life and our ship. We must set our sails with intentionality and determined choices. Otherwise, we are doomed to aimlessly drift along according to the choices and decisions of others. 

Last Chance

  This morning I was running on the treadmill with an empty treadmill right beside me. This is nothing out of the ordinary since I intentionally plan my workouts at times when the gym is not busy. However, this time that empty treadmill meant much more than just a slow time at the gym. About three weeks ago I was on the same treadmill as I was this morning, and my friend J was on the treadmill beside me. I was cooling down from my workout and just able to catch my breath enough to chat with J for a while. We shared a couple of laughs, talked about some struggles, and then went our separate ways. How was I to know that would be the last time I would ever see him? Three nights ago, I received a text that J had passed away earlier that evening. J is a big, strong guy in his mid-40s, and his passing came as a complete shock. I sat on the couch in stunned silence as I digested the tragic news. This morning, the sight of that empty treadmill hit me hard. J will never walk beside me...