Are you looking for something better in your life? Do you ever feel like maybe you could enjoy life more and maybe have a little more energy to get you through these dog days of Summer?
Exercise may be just the ticket to a vastly better lifestyle – one with more energy and an overall better outlook on life! Once you get hooked on the natural high you feel during and especially right after exercise – you just might wish you’d started sooner! No worries though – it’s never to late to start getting in better shape!
If you’ve been out of the exercise habit for a while – go slow at first. When Zig Ziglar decided to start towards his goal of better fitness – he walked or ran for like a block! Eventually he was walking or running several miles most days of the week. The key is to get started.
Start walking. Gradually increase your time and intensity a little each day. The key is to get your heart-rate up and get to the point where your lungs are really working! Every few minutes – push yourself a little harder for a couple minutes. Then back off to a slightly more comfortable pace.
Build a little momentum and keep building more! Do something towards your goal every day!
Keep it simple. Do those simple exercises we all learned back in middle school.
Get a jump rope and maybe a bike. Buy a good pair of walking / running shoes! You’ll thank yourself for that investment!
Barbell curls are an effective exercise for building your biceps. This simple exercise and help your arms appear larger and more defined. When doing curls shoot for 8-12 reps per set and do 2-3 sets per workout. Keep your rest periods short for maximum effect!
If you’re looking for something new to spice up your fitness efforts – you might want to try P90X: Tony Horton’s 90-Day Extreme Home Fitness Workout DVD Program
People are seeing just amazing results – in their overall fitness and weight loss efforts using this guys workouts. They can be tough – so you’ll start seeing results sooner and find yourself feeling way more energy!
Your health and fitness are dependent on maximizing the amount of activity you do on a daily basis and minimizing the amount of couch-potato time. Your body can only respond to so much high-intensity activity, but it’s still important to get up and move around every day. Going for a walk or even doing gardening or chores around the house on a non-training day will help ward off the negative side effects of sitting at your desk for 8 or 9 hours a day!
Filed under: Saving Your Money
But what madness must it be to run into debt for these superfluities! We are offered, by the terms of this vendue, six months’ credit; and that, perhaps, has induced some of us to attend it, because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine without it. But, ah! think what you do when you run in debt: You give to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay at the time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will make poor, pitiful, sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose our veracity, and sink into base, downright lying; for, as Poor Richard says, “The second vice is lying, the first is running into debt; and again, to the same purpose, lying rides upon debt’s back; whereas a free-born Englishman ought not to be ashamed or afraid to see or speak to any man living. But poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and
virtue.
‘Tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright!
as Poor Richard truly says.
What would you think of that prince, or that government who should issue an edict forbidding you to dress like a gentleman or gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment or servitude? Would you not say that you are free, have a right to dress as you please, and that such an edict would be a breach of your privileges, and such a government tyranical? And yet you are about to put yourself under such tyranny, when you run in debt for such dress! Your creditor has authority, at his pleasure, to deprive you of your liberty, by confining you in jail for life, or to sell you for a servant, if you should not be able to pay him.
When you have got your bargain you may, perhaps, think little of payment; but Creditors (Poor Richard tells us) have better memories than debtors; and in another place says, Creditors are a superstitious set, great observers of set days and times.
The day comes round before you are aware, and the demand is made before you are prepared to satisfy it; or, if you will bear your debt in mind, the term which at first seemed so long will, as it lessens, appear extremely short. Time will seem to have added wings to his heels as well as his shoulders. Those have a short Lent, saith Poor Richard, who owe money to be paid at Easter. Then since, as he says, The borrower is a slave to the lender, and the debtor to the creditor, disdain the chain, preserve your freedom, and maintain your independence.
Be industrious and free; be frugal and free. At present, perhaps, you may think yourself in thriving circumstances, and that you can bear a little extravagance without injury; simply keep in mind:
“For age and want, save your money while you may,
No morning sun lasts a whole day.”
Filed under: Uncategorized
May all your waves be filled with excitement..
Picture of Miranda in Hawaii at Listal
Have your Best Summer Ever!
Filed under: Biblical Wisdom
A kind word, a gentle act, a modest demeanor, a loving smile, are as so many seeds that we can scatter every moment of our lives, and which will always spring up and bear fruit.
Happy are those who have many around them … they are rich in opportunities, and may sow plenteously.
Learning is not without its effect upon the soul; it either lends it wings to bear it up to God, or leaves behind it tiny sparks, which little by little consume the whole being.
If you would ascertain all the good or ill you have derived from all those hours devoted to historians, poets, novelists, or philosophers, put to yourself these questions: Since acquiring this knowledge, am I wiser? am I better? am I happier?
Wiser?—That is to say, more self-controlled, less the slave of my passions, less irritated by small vexations, braver in bearing misfortunes, more careful to live for eternity?
Better?—More forbearing towards others, more forgiving, less uncharitable, more reticent in opposing the faults of others, more solicitous for the happiness of those around me?
Happier?—That would mean more contented with my station in life, striving to derive all possible benefits from it, to beautify rather than to alter it?
Have I more faith in God, and more calmness and resignation in all the events of life?
If you cannot reply in the affirmative, then examine your heart thoroughly, and you will find there, stifling the good that God has implanted, these three tyrants that have obtained dominion over, you:
(1.) Pride;
(2.) Ambition;
(3.) Self-conceit.
From them have sprung: dissatisfaction and contempt of your life and its surroundings, restlessness, a longing for power and dominion over others, malice, habitual discontent, and incessant murmurings. Have you any further doubts? Then inquire of those with whom you live.
Ah! if this be indeed the sad result, then, whatever may be your age, close, oh! close those books, and seek once more those two elements of happiness you ought never to have forsaken, and which, had you made them the companions of your study, would have kept you pure and good.
Prayer and manual labor are the two greatest keys to a life of happiness. Invest some time in yourself – take time for thoughtful prayer. And start exercise . Exercise or do some form of manual labor most days of the week.
“Never start upon an undertaking until you are sure it is practicable and ought to be done, and then let nothing stand long in the way of accomplishing that undertaking. It is better to deserve success than to have it; few deserve it who do not attain it.”
“There is no failure in this country for those whose personal habits are good, and who follow some honest calling industriously, unselfishly, and purely. If one desires to succeed, he must pay the price—work!”
In order to succeed, a man must have a purpose fixed, then let his motto be victory or death.
—Henry Clay.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms!
For those of us who are fortunate enough to still have a Mother to see or speak with today – here’s hoping you get the chance to tell your Mom you love her!
“My child, it is not wisdom I require of thee, it sufficeth if thou lovest Me well.
Speak to Me as thou wouldst talk to thy mother if she were here, pressing thee to her heart.”
To spare us trouble, she often will sacrifice her own ease and enjoyment….
A devout woman once wrote thus: “In my own family I try to be as little in the way as possible, satisfied with everything, and never to believe for a moment that any one means unkindly towards me.
“If people are friendly and kind to me, I enjoy it; if they neglect me, or leave me, I am always happy alone. It all tends to my one aim, forgetfulness of self in order to please God.”
You who have no longer a mother to love you, and yet crave for love, God will be as a mother. You who have no brother to help you, and have so much need of support, God will be your brother. You who have no friends to comfort you, and stand so much in need of consolation, God will be your friend.
Preserve always the childlike simplicity which goes direct to God, and speak to Him as you would speak to your mother.
Keep that open confidence that tells Him your projects, troubles, joys, as you tell them to a brother.
Cherish those loving words that speak of all the happiness you feel, living in dependence upon Him, and trusting in His Love, just as you would tell it to the friend of your childhood.
Keep the generous heart of childhood which gives all you have to God. Let Him freely take whatever He pleases, all within and around you. Will only what He wills, desiring only what is in accordance with His Will, and finding nothing impossible that He commands.
Oh, that is all very beautiful, very right; but what should we do for the soul?
Do we pray to God that this soul may become humble, pure, devoted?
Do we take as much pains to procure him the little devotional book that will really help him, as we should to obtain a transient pleasure?
Do we help him, unseen, towards that act of charity, humiliation, or self-renunciation? Have we courage not to spare the soul the trial that we know will purify?
Does it seem too hard for you?
Ah! then you do not know what real love is. Does not God love us? Yet God lets us suffer; even sends the suffering.
Love is given us to help us onwards, nearer to God. The most blessed is that which draws us nearest to Him; and in proportion as it leads to God we realize its blessedness.
The essence of true love is not its tenderness, but its strength, power of endurance, its purity, its self-renunciation.
The mistake we make is when we seek to be beloved, instead of loving. What makes us cowardly is the fear of losing that love.
Never forget this: A selfish heart desires love for itself; a Mom’s heart delights to love – without any expectations of return.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Thank You! Thank You for every loving thought. Every caring act. Thank You for giving us life! Thank You for nurturing us! And for every lesson you taught.
Thank You for making every bruise and scrape feel just a little bit better. Thank You for every encouraging word. And for every time you worried about us.
Thank You for feeding us oatmeal on those cold Winter mornings. And letting us pick our favorite Supper on Friday nights! Thanks for making us pancakes! And brownies.
Thank You for loving us! Thank You for every selfless act you performed on our behalf. But not the spankings!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Every parent surely knows firsthand the Love God shares with us through our children. I often wonder if God is showing us his love when we love our children.
and then… check out this site – for an awesome bit about parenting!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Demands upon our time just seem to grow even greater as each passing year goes by. Trying to fit in time for family and a little time just for you can pose a challenge when your boss is on the line for that big project you’re tackling.
Who has time to exercise and enjoy some good quality time with those loved ones we value most? In today’s challenging financial climate few feel comfortable switching careers or simply walking away from a real paying job!
CALMNESS of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.
A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.
The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater self-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanour is strongly equable.
The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. “Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character, which we call serenity is the last lesson of culture, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold—yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money seeking looks in comparison with a serene life—a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!
“How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character, and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self-control. How few people we meet in life who are well balanced, who have that graceful nature and natural poise.
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” John 14: 21-27
Do you ever find yourself wishing for just a little more happiness and a little less to worry about? Do you ever wonder what your life might be like without the seemingly endless streams of junk spewn out by TV and Internet News?
The choice to enjoy life more and avoid all that negative energy out there is ours for the making! Why not try to get more positive, even humorous inputs into our tender brains? A hearty laugh is more desirable for mental health than any exercise of the reasoning faculties.
Watch a funny movie. Read a funny story. Find something positive to focus your precious thoughts on! We do get to control what we see and what we read , right?
Take some time for yourself each day. Develop your spiritual nature and give thanks every day to the Good Lord. Meditate on your blessings and give Thanks Daily!
Enjoy eating healthy foods. Feed your body crap and – well, garbage in…. garbage out may just become more than just a tired old proverb. Instead, give your body a healthy mix of natural foods – more raw fruits and vegetables. Less red meat and try to avoid those pre-packaged meats with a list of ingredients resembling words we saw in Chemistry 101.
Get some exercise most days of the week.
You really can build greater self esteem and even live the life of your dreams!
It is not the troubles of to-day, but those of to-morrow and next week and next year, that whiten our heads and wrinkle our faces. Eliminate worry – eat healthy, laugh a little ( or a lot ), and get a little exercise every day!
“A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance; But by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge; But the mouth of fools feedeth on folly.
All the days of the afflicted are evil; But he that is of a cheerful heart hath a continual feast.
Better is little, with the fear of Our Lord, Than great treasure and trouble therewith.
Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
A wrathful man stirreth up contention; But he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.
The way of the sluggard is as a hedge of thorns; But the path of the upright is made a highway.”
Proverbs 15: 13-19
