Restoring Balance - Chapter 1.
We are intricately made. As Christians we realise that we were created to a
design. We didn’t just appear on this Earth by chance. We didn’t just evolve from
a sludge and have no purpose to our existence.
We also realise that our Creator left us a handbook for us to use on a daily basis.
So, as with most manufactured items, we too came with a user manual, the
Bible. But most of us being human, like to play with our new purchases without
reading this manual first. For this reason, the manufacturer also usually also
includes a “Quick Start Guide”. This article is intended to be your “Quick Start
Guide” to improve the way you feel and perform each day. Not written by our
Creator, but by a user in collaboration with other users. A sort of hands-on guide
written from the combined experience of research and observation.
We are all unique and have our own set of problems we attempt to handle each
day. Some we manage successfully, other not so much.
There are fundamental principles that we can implement, to improve our lives,
whatever state we are currently in. Good or bad. There is always room for
improvement and that can start here, right now.
Go through this list and if you can apply each point and integrate it in to your
day-to-day lifestyle, then you can and WILL improve your wellbeing. We all want
that don’t we?
1. PUT GOD FIRST – Whatever you are going through, whatever is torturing you,
God knows. He has also promised that he won’t allow us to go through any
situation that will break us. Strengthen us, yes. But injure us mentally or
physically, no.
So, knowing this, it makes complete sense to trust our Father completely and
put Him first in everything we do.
As well as making sure we spend time in prayer, also remember, that through
the Holy Spirit, we have contact with Him every moment of the day. I tend to
find that I prefer to talk to Him as a companion throughout the day, rather than
spending long periods praying. That may not suit you. However, if you haven’t
tried it I would recommend doing so and see how well it works.
I have the advantage that I mostly work completely by myself and can speak out
loud sometimes. However, I do mostly talk to Him in my thoughts.
Because He is my constant companion, I am always aware of my place in this
worldly existence and never forget that I have turned myself over to Him
completely. I am a willing bond servant and always ready to do my Masters will.
This can’t happen if you are not in contact as regularly as possible.
Put God first in everything. And, take Him with you whatever you are doing.
Being able to trust this connection, your mental and physical state will
immediately improve. The more it is used the stronger you will become.
2. BE ADAPTABLE – Have you ever noticed small children? When they play, they
quite often fall and are very clumsy. There are quite often tears and a need to
have something kissed better. But, quite rarely do these bumps scrapes ever
need a trip to the Emergency Room.
Why is this? Their bodies are very pliable at that age. Their minds are also not
filled with “stuff” telling them things. As they fall, they have no “preprogramed”
reaction sequence to follow. It just happens. They don’t react fast enough to get
themselves in to serious trouble.
Adults, however, do just the opposite. As they fall, they think and they react.
They can usually do serious damage to themselves by over reacting.
Have you ever seen a car skid? It usually weaves from side to side before
complete control is lost. That is because we over steer in panic. We turn too far
one way, then too far the other. Experienced drivers know that and can save
themselves if that happens to them.
Another example is the octopus. It has no bones. The only non-flexible part of
an octopus is its beak. A 600lb octopus can squeeze through a hole the size of a
coin. It is adaptable. It can’t be trapped. If its beak goes through the hole, so can
the rest of it.
Whatever situation hits us, don’t over react with “preprogramed” responses.
Think it out and adapt to the new circumstances you find yourself in.
3. WILLPOWER – Our minds are more powerful than our bodies. If we think
ourselves sick, we can make ourselves worse. If we think ourselves well, we can
improve every aspect of our physical health.
It’s all in the mind. Our mental health determines our physical health.
We have the power. YOU have the power. You can, at this very moment, place
your mind in recovery mode and improve your health and wellbeing. It doesn’t
need any drastic change. Just small baby steps and you will see an improvement
very quickly. We were designed that way. Check out the main user manual for
more details.
4. GOOD DIET – Our physical health affects our mental health. We can’t
overcome mental problems if our bodies don’t have the right nutrients. They
work together in harmony. Or should do. Both aspects are synchronised. Eat
healthy foods. Refuse unhealthy ones.
You know what is healthy and what isn’t. DON’T KID YOURSELF.
Ideally eat organic. There can be 20% to 40% more nutrients in organic. It all
adds up. Eat as much as you can obtain and afford. You also will ingest less
poisons from pesticides.
I grow Radish, Broccoli and Arugula sprouts. These can have 30 times the
nutrients of fully grown specimens. There is nothing better than eating
something that was alive and growing ten minutes before. These can be grown
on any window ledge.
Get rid of the junk food. Sugary, fatty processed food will poison your body and
do the same to your mind. DON’T DO IT.
It is recommended to eat 80% fresh food each day. If it comes in a box it should
be the 20% of your intake. Most people’s lifestyles have become habit forming
and for some it’s nearly impossible to show them just how much this matters.
However, I will try. Our user manual tells us to eat what is good. That means
NOT eating what is NOT GOOD. Common sense really.
5. HYDRATION – You will find recommendations to drink 6 glasses of water a
day. This is misleading because we are all different. The aim should be to urinate
at least every two hours. If we aren’t that frequent, then we aren’t hydrated
sufficiently.
With too little water each day our brains shrink. Our blood vessels don’t pass
blood as well. It goes sludgy and increases our blood pressure. It doesn’t do as
good a job at feeding our bodies and our brain with nutrients. We feel worse,
physically and mentally if we are not fully hydrated. The quality of the water is
also important. Just as with food, obtain the very best you can. Apparently, there
is now no water anywhere in the world that doesn’t have some sort of
contamination that wasn’t there when God first created it for us.
Because the water has become so contaminated, it is now recommended not to
eat ANY fish at all. There are no uncontaminated fish ANYWHERE either. Fish
used to be the “meat” of choice for a healthy existence. Not anymore. You are
actually better off eating drugged up chicken and beef. My preference is to not
anything but plants. However, most would feel unable to follow that path. So, I
recommend reducing your intake as much as possible for good results to appear.
6. OUR MINDS AFFECT THE WAY WE FEEL – With our minds, if we don’t use
them, we lose them. We become dumber. We stop thinking straight. We get
caught up in ever decreasing circles of fruitless thought patterns.
We were created to achieve great works. To actually contribute to society and
prosper the world by our presence. You don’t believe me? Then consider the
amount of our user manual that covers relationship with each other and with
our Creator.
Our Father hopes for, and expects great things from us. To achieve our full
potential, we need to exercise our minds. We need to explore new ideas. We
need to expunge old thoughts that are useless to us. To renew ourselves each
day.
We were designed to dream each night. To meticulously store away useful and
positive ideas and experiences. This dream state also removes useless and
negative ones too.
You should wake up the next morning feeling a different person than when you
went to sleep. If you don’t then something has gone wrong and you should start
to exercise your mind with positive ideas and information to push out the
negative ones.
Consider what Jesus said:
Matthew 12:43-45
“When an impure spirit comes out
of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then
it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house
unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven
other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final
condition of that person is worse than the first.”
Don’t let your mind become an “empty house”. Fill it with positive things and
exercise it each day. Don’t leave any room for anything you have purged to
return.
7. PHYSICAL EXERCISE – The body and mind work in perfect harmony. Or at least
were designed to. Your mind affects how you feel both mentally and physically.
And, your body affects how well your mind works and feels.
If we become coach potatoes, so does our mind too.
Our arteries carry nutrients to each part of the body and especially the brain.
Our hearts pump out and suck back through our veins. However, the sucking
doesn’t work so well without exercise.
When we exercise our bodies really start to work. We burn the fuel in our blood
and return old, expired fuel and nutrients back to be filtered out. The harder we
work at exercising; the more filtering can take place. The better we feel.
There is also another very essential part of our system that requires some
movement to work. Bear in mind that humans weren’t meant to sit around. It is
only in recent history that so many of us have been able to choose not to work
and be supported in our unproductive lifestyles.
God designed us to work physically.
2 Thessalonians 3:10
"The one who is
unwilling to work shall not eat."
What happens if you are not allowed to eat?
YOU DIE! No more you. Therefore, no unmoving, unproductive humans.
So, bearing this in mind, movement is essential for our lymphatic system. We
have no heart pumping. The whole design is to pump using gravity and
movement.
What does this system do? It is a drainage channel. What happens if you don’t
move enough? It doesn’t work properly. You get stagnant products left around.
Puddles of muck!
Why do we now have disease in vast percentages of our population? What is
different now than before. We don’t have to take notice of 2 Thessalonians. We
get to live without moving enough. Our forefathers didn’t need to work out in a
gym. They didn’t need to go running.
They would have walked to work. Done a full 12+ hours hard labour and then
walked back home again.
If the lymphatic system doesn’t work then all sorts of nasty stuff start eating
away at our bodies and putrefying. Disease can and usually does result.
We must exercise to make our bodies work as they were intended.
8. BE PURPOSEFUL – This one brings us back to our mental attitude towards our
lives.
We have already covered that how we think governs how well we feel. This too
is a matter of our mind positively helping or negatively draining our wellbeing.
We should have a reason for getting out of bed in the morning. Work out each
night before you go to bed, exactly what you want to achieve with the new day’s
life that our Father has granted you. Have a valid reason for existing! Have a
purpose and know that the air your breath and the food you eat is being put to
good use. Make the day count!
9. BE YOURSELF – The happiest people in this world are the ones that have
discovered just who they are. They know their qualities and failures. And, whilst
they are striving to be better, they accept what they are at this moment in time.
They are content to be who they are now and not anxious about taking the
journey to who they would like to be in the future.
If you aren’t happy being you, then you can change you. You can figure out what
you need to learn or alter to be the new improved, more acceptable you.
Meanwhile you stay true to the real you. You exist as YOU. Not as you think that
others would like you to be. Or even pretending to already be that better you,
that you envisage the future you will actually be. That is called kidding yourself
and you won’t be able to keep it up for very long before failing again.
10. LOVE YOURSELF – This is also a part of the previous point. We all like to think
that there is at least one person in this world that actually truly loves us. We
would no doubt like this number to as large as possible.
If we are so terrible that we can’t even love ourselves, then how can we expect
others to do so?
We all know that God knew us and loved us from the beginning. He’s told us
that. Lose any hang-ups and baggage you may be dragging around after you and
set yourself free. God loves you and knows that you are doing your best to
improve yourself each day. What valid reason is there, still, for you not to love
yourself too?
11. BE REALISTICALLY OPTIMISTIC – Many of us get discouraged because the
goals we have set before us are not reached.
But, were these goals REALLY realistic? Is it actually possible to attain them?
We can build better muscles, lose weight and get fitter. But we CAN’T change
our eye colour, add anything to our height or stop our hair going grey. We need
to be honest with what we can control and what we can’t.
Also, with these goals we set ourselves, take baby steps. Don’t expect to get to
the finish line when you have only just started out. If the steps are small enough
you can reach your goal very quickly, because it was a realistic goal. You have
then achieved your goal and start out again taking the first step to the next goal.
Each positive step encourages you to finish line.
Don’t set your eyes on the final destination. Fix them on the finish line for the
next baby step. Set realistic goals and you will succeed. Too bigger a goal and
you may not reach it. You may also get discouraged along the way.
Yes, be optimistic but optimistic with a sense of realism!
There are many more points to add to this article.
Please check back later and you will be able to read more things that you can do
to make small improvements to your wellbeing.
