Mindset Matters

There seems to be a constant buzz in diet and nutrition circles as health-conscious individuals are always seeking ways to add some superfood into their diets. Kale, flax seeds, chia seeds, coconut oil, omega 3 fatty acids, and many others would all be on that list of having their heyday at some point. In addition to actual foods, many people are looking for the “magic pill” to add to their toolbox; something that will make exercising easier and speed up weight loss or advance them towards some other health goal. While many are looking for that “next thing” to add, sometimes the biggest step someone can take is cutting out a harmful item rather than adding a healthy one. The human body has amazing systems in place to repair, recover and revitalize, but we often thwart those natural process by ingesting foods or engaging in otherwise unhealthy behaviors that create a great deal more work for our body and reduce the impact of those inherent processes. For example, poor diets ...

It’s very easy to get caught up in engaging in tasks or ventures that offer “any value.” Meaning, we chose an activity or a commitment because we can identify some benefit, however trivial, and therefore assume it’s a positive choice. The danger in this is twofold. First, there is always an opportunity cost in the time and effort required for the action. Second, there are often unintended or undesirable “collateral consequences” that come along for the ride. For example, you begin the day by turning on the news because there is a particular bill in the house you are following or maybe you are hoping to find out why you heard so many sirens going by your house in the wee hours of the morning. In the process of watching the news you may or may not get the information you were seeking, but you also were likely exposed to plenty of trivial and sensationalized “news” that will do you no good. In fact, it may even do you harm because of the pessimistic nature of reporting and its...

Both gratitude and appreciation have been shown to be phenomenal treatments to ward off negativity and even depression. By deliberately contemplating the people, circumstances and even material things in your life for which you are thankful, you can effectively better your mood and probably enhance your outlook on the entire day. Do this often enough and it may shift how you perceive life in general. Want to go a step further? Reach out and express gratitude to those people responsible for the events and circumstances in your life for which you are so appreciative. Your perspective will likely begin shifting to a more positive and optimistic outlook, even in the face of challenges. While it is easy to wake up and pick someone to which you will send a note of gratitude – maybe this is a postcard or, if you were born after 1955, probably a text – it is just as easy not to. And in order for this to work, I believe it has to become a habit. Why? Because there is no cure for pessimi...

I recently heard someone trying to motivate and encourage others by discounting fear. He said things like “fear isn’t real,” “fear is a lie” and “fear is nothing.” You may have heard similar descriptions such as “fear is just False Evidence Appearing Real.” I realize people who talk like this are just trying to help, but we do a disservice to others by pretending fear isn’t real or by suggesting fear shouldn’t be experienced if one is courageous. I’ve addressed this before but wanted to revisit it again. Fear is a very necessary and important emotion. It’s part of what makes us human. If we pretend like fear isn’t there it can destroy us. If we assume only cowards feel fear, we will never be brave. Overcoming fear is not to be numb to its effects. Rather, it is to not be overcome by it and act appropriately despite what we feel. It is to see fear not as an adversary standing in front of us, blocking our path, but to view fear as a companion that travels beside us. Our c...

Rarely does a stream or river ever flow in a straight line for very long. Rivers often have a serpentine, meandering course as they seek the path of least resistance. Water will always travel downhill when given the choice. It circumvents obstacles and works around barriers, always desiring an easier direction in which to move. Then, once it has found that path of least resistance, a river will solidify that course as it carves a rut through the earth. This works for a while until an obstacle blocks its path – maybe a large boulder or a fallen tree – and it then adjusts its course to avoid that obstruction. Is it is the nature of traveling the path of least resistance that gives a stream its crooked shape. There is no intentionality or purpose in how water flows. It simply seeks out the easiest direction forward. In much the same way, humans become crooked while following the path of least resistance. While it may be unfair to use the definition of crooked meaning evil and corr...

In addition to the plastic bottle conspiracy , there’s another product designed for feeding children I simply don’t understand: the plastic knife. First of all, what need does your fourteen-month-old have of a knife? They can barely find their face when trying to eat, do they really have the motor skills to use any utensil, much less two as we expect them to hold their food down with their fork and slice it with their knife? Also, what are they needing to cut up anyway? “Here’s your lunch junior, now make sure you cut up your oatmeal and mashed avocado into small bites!” There’s really no reason for any little kid to have a knife, unless of course you are trying to encourage mutiny. And if you have ever met a two-year-old you know that the last thing a toddler needs is any encouragement to be mutinous. That comes quite naturally to those little terrorists. (Maybe it’s because we feed them stuff like oatmeal mixed with avocado …) But here’s my biggest issue with the plastic kn...

My morning started with my toddler waking up crying long before it was time for him to be up for the day. It isn’t so much that he isn’t ready to face the world early in morning, it’s more that at 6am, the world isn’t ready to face Brecken. My wife started to get up to get him a bottle, but being the loving, sensitive husband and father I am, I told her I would do it so she could go back to sleep. My alarm had gone off just seconds earlier so I didn’t have my contacts in yet and I began to fumble around for my glasses when my wife says in more-than-a-little-threatening tone, “you’d better hurry before he wakes up the whole house.” Desperate to avoid the ire of my pregnant bride, I hurried downstairs to fetch a bottle for the young prince. I manage to navigate through the kitchen, half-blind and in the dark, and made my way to the drawer containing the bottles. It would be too easy if we had just one brand and size of bottle, so we have at least three or four different styles ...

A while back, I wrote about each day being a blank canvas . A new start and the opportunity for a fresh beginning. Although I do believe this is true, I also know that we have a tendency to begin painting that new canvas with old brushes, contaminating a potentially fresh start with the residue and grime of the past. Although the day begins anew, we drag dirt from the past into the present and stain the future. It’s not enough to see each day as a fresh start if I, as the brush, am still polluted by the past. Just as a mix of different colors on a brush creates a dark smear, obscuring the pure white of the canvas, the tarnish of the past can blind me, preventing me from seeing what could be because I am held back by what has been. Just as putting new wine in old wineskins is a recipe for disaster (Matthew 9:17), painting on a pure surface with a contaminated brush presents its own pathway to discouragement and frustration. God provides us with the chance for a fresh sta...

My daughters recently began taking horse riding lessons. I don’t quite understand the draw of riding a large, stinky animal around in circles – especially now that they have invented the car – but my girls love it, so I’ve tried to be supportive. Anyway, my little seven-year-old, Brooklynn, is only about two months into lessons and is just starting to build her confidence in controlling such a massive animal. Brook is maybe 50lbs when soaking wet and wearing a Flavor Flav style gold chain, so this horse is quite literally 20 times her size if not more. Yesterday she was learning how to modulate the horse’s gait from standing, to walking, to a trot (which is kind of like a horse jog, I think) then back down to a walk and to standing again. Sometimes this horse required a bit more motivation to move than my tiny and (sometimes) soft-spoken daughter would provide, so the instructor was trying to get Brook to assert herself a little more as she rode. Something clicked inside my da...

One of my concerns with the world we live in is kids are growing up being trained as test takers and not thinkers. They are being groomed to come up with the right answers, but don’t learn to answer – or even ask – the right questions. What happens to kids when they graduate college and find out the most important questions in life don’t have a “right” answer. How will they deal with failure when the are faced with only “bad” choices and try to come up with a solution when all the paths ahead seem to be “wrong”? What’s the right answer when they are laden with student loans and faced with taking a job that will pay the bills or one that fits their passion and desired direction in life? There are no “right answers” when life hits you hard and you lose a spouse, lose a child, go through a major health crisis or even lose a job. Life isn’t a multiple-choice test in which the answer justifies the means. Sometimes how you address a problem is more important than the answer you c...

In Luke 5, we read a story that begins with two empty boats. Then we find Peter on the shore washing and repairing his nets. Jesus first commands Peter to get into the boat with Him. Peter obliges, and they push off into the water. Then, in verse 4, Jesus instructs Peter, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” It is at this point in the narrative that we find out why the boats were empty and why Peter was sitting on the shore repairing his nets instead of standing in the boat casting them. Peter initially resists Jesus’ directive and says, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing.” Peter wasn’t mending his nets because they were in disrepair – after all, they hadn’t held any fish all night – he was mending his nets because he was worn down by failure, and it was easier to avoid the risk of further defeat with the semblance of preparation. By engaging in an activity that appeared to be productive, he was able to justify his neglect of the action...

Are you fleeing your past or chasing your future? While it may not look any different to a bystander – all they see is somebody running, jogging or walking – how you experience life very much depends on where you fall along that spectrum. Many people don’t have a clear direction for their life and are simply moving away from circumstances in their life they wish to eliminate. They don’t know where they are going, so long as it takes them away from “here.” It may be fleeing a job, a relationship, a geographical location or even a socioeconomic status; they just want “out.” They are running from their past and current situation rather than pursuing a purpose and a direction. Beyond the fact that simply running from where you are now might just get you lost or cause you to end up in an even worse condition, it also disrupts your motivation and mindset in the process – how you experience the journey. Even if you don’t “catch” some of your goals and objectives, the chase itself ca...

“Want shows up in conversation, expectation shows up in behavior.” – Les Brown I love this quote from Les Brown as it captures the problem with so many goals, plans and resolutions: they’re all talk and no walk! People like the idea of losing weight, reading more, watching less TV (and Netflix), paying off their house early, finishing the master’s degree, being a more sacrificial spouse, etc., but when it comes to actually changing their behavior and habits to accomplish that task, they aren’t willing to pay the price. And because their commitment was relatively shallow anyway, failing to accomplish the goal doesn’t hurt that much as they had little invested anyway. And they probably didn’t really expect to succeed anyway because deep down inside, they knew they only wanted the prize, and weren’t willing to pay the price. Proverbs 20:11 tells us that, “Even a child is known by his actions.” Our lives are characterized by our behavior more than what we say because what we do...

Many of our choices can be divided into one of two categories: deposits or withdrawals. Let me explain what I mean. When you chose to swallow your pride and apologize for your role in an argument or hurtful conversation, you make a deposit in that relationship. When you hold on to bitterness for what you think they meant when they said what they said, you are making a withdrawal. When you get up early and take the time to prepare healthy meals for the day and then hit the gym before work, you are making a deposit, not only in the efficiency of that day, but also in your health for the future. When you grab a donut in the lunchroom on the way to the meeting, it’s a withdrawal from your long-term health and your own effectiveness. When you hit the snooze button, you make a withdrawal in the sense that you began your day with a compromise and cut short your time to prepare for work and get ready for the day ahead. In a very literal sense, when you make a withdrawal you are stealing fr...