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The Mental NO!

I was determined to go to my Tuesday evening zumba class, knowing I would get not only a sweating workout, but have fun in the process. My plan was to leave work on time for a change, quickly change into my workout gear, cook a meal that would put fuel in my tank, and make it to the gym. This worked out perfectly.

Though I thought about taking the next class, I was pleased that I endured a good sweaty workout, and decided to go home. Since the body got exercise, the spirit must get the same, I thought. So for the remainder of the evening I thought to read some scripture and do some writing before going to bed.

As I got in my car to head home, my mind seemed to immediately gravitate to thinking about food, and started to give me some ideas of what to eat, and dare I say they were not healthy food choices. Fried chicken (or anything fried for that matter) was the suggestion, and my mind continued to wander into the world of getting something to eat. The good side of me mentally gave all of me a resounding NO!  to the request, and  I made it home without going somewhere to get s tasty snack full of unwanted calories. Why waste all that movement I did in class to consume something I didn’t need?

After parking my car once I got home, I thought about what had just happened.  I could have followed my mind as I have done numerous times, (the reason for my overabundance of fat I carry in my body), but this time I decided to do as scripture says:

1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 (NIV)

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Paul wrote this to the those of the church of Corinth, encouraging them how to not only run the race, but win the prize. The method of running must be strategic, and one must not run the race with no goal in mind, aimlessly “beating the air”, as the King James Version records. Since we are talking about runners here, when they prepare for a race, they plan, train, and eat the right foods that will fuel them as they run. And when there’s one lap to go and the finish line is in sight, they hope they will have that kick of energy that will enable them to be the one who wins the prize.
But the runner, like Paul, whips the body in  shape to be presented to the world as the winner. Paul learned that having the body in shape provided the best way to present himself. We can apply the mindset to our lives. What goals do you want to obtain, and what mind suggestions do you need to eliminate that causes your body to follow the thought? After all,

“Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”
― Samuel Smiles, Happy Homes and the Hearts That Make Them

So keep those NO!s coming to yourself, and eventually change will come, and you will become the one who wins the prize, for
“The Body Achieves
What the Mind Believes.”  Bishop Dale C. Bronner

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