Who you HAVE become does not need to be who you WILL BE…

I believe the truth is that we have become a lot like this cat...

I also believe with just a few changes that cat can grow up and become that lion!

Who you HAVE become does not need to be who you WILL BE…

What do you do when you’ve become what you don’t want to be?

The simple answer here is Change…but how?

Some people say that change is difficult. I prefer to think of change as opportunity for improvement. It is necessary for something’s to change, while other things need to remain steady almost monotonous at times! (Believe it or not every run this past year was fun, thrilling, or exciting…running a 5k everyday was at times, errrr uhhhh VERY BORING…maybe that is because I have never been a “Runner”!)

But anyways, back to the subject of change and becoming the person we really desire to be. Typically we miss out on reaching goals for two reasons.

Either A – We are not steady or faithful in the areas we are trying to accomplish the goals in.

Or

B – We are afraid to change (usually masked in the words “I can’t do it”!) because of old habits we are unwilling to break.

I will guarantee you that if your willing to make new habits or commit to doing something daily you will become better and more efficient at it! The second part of this guarantee is if you give up old unhealthy patterns or habits blocking you from accomplishing your new goals, it will be much easier to reach whatever goal you have set before yourself.

I suppose the real question I am asking here is this, “What are you willing to sacrifice in order to become, do, achieve, win, etc.?”

Philippians 4:13

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Fear of the UNKNOWN vs. The Known...Year running totals (362 days worth)

I want to share a couple of personal thoughts (perhaps random) about the upcoming Walt Disney World Marathon. Last year was my first full marathon run…for those of you that are wondering it is 26.2 miles! I knew it was a long run, but that is about all I knew…I had no full marathon experience as of yet.

Now I know what to expect. However, that doesn’t excuse me or anyone from the unknown…

Saturday January 8th will be a day to remember, it will be a day that Sarah experiences the unknown…she has been training to run the half marathon, which I must say she has done exceptionally well with her training. While she did a training run of 12 miles, a race is totally different! I am sure many of you reading this know exactly what I mean…the adrenalin, music, excitement, and camaraderie that you experience with 10,000-20,000 people all embarking on a journey of the unknown…because the truth is when your dealing with the miles and hours that go into the marathon distance races in a moment of time you can go from thriving in the known to surviving in the unknown. A quick roll of your ankle, a misstep, maybe you push a bit to hard at the start, or not hard enough…any of these things can cause your dreams to end in the blink of an eye.

These are the things that drive people crazy that have trained for months, or even years to run the race they have planned on running.

The plan for the marathon week is to pace Sarah for her half, to celebrate her journey, and embrace what comes next…

On Sunday things change, my race will begin. My bib number is 715, I do have a link that you can follow my splits at certain miles if you'd like it let me know...my goal is to run the fastest I possibly can for as long as I possibly can. My dream is to run a sub 3:10, my happy goal is anything under 3:30, yes that is a big difference, for clarification when the gun goes off I will be with the 3:10 pace group, but there are a lot of things in my head saying don’t do it, you can’t do it, you won’t do it…all doubt, but something deep within me says, yes you can.

The doubt comes from the accident I had in July that left me barely able to walk for a month and a half…but I ran everyday.

The fear, the doubt, it all sounds familiar to me, it is the same things I heard last New Years when I set a goal to run a 5k (3.1 miles) everyday for the entire year! This means that the shortest running day I had during the 2010 year was 3.1 miles. I am not sure when I will get a chance to blog again or if I even will before the marathon so I want to update my running totals for this year (minus three days as this is the 28th)

362 days of running in 2010:
Total Miles: 2,333
Daily Average: 6.44
Weekly Average 44.9
Monthly Average: 194

This year has been an amazing year…I don’t know what will happen on January 9th. I am unsure of what time I will run the marathon in, if I don’t beat 3:10 I have come to one conclusion, there is always a next time!

The greatest part of the marathon is not the time you receive at the finish (that is a bi-product or reward of your training) but it’s the journey to reach the end!

I LOVE New Years!

I LOVE New Years!

I always have…hopefully I always will, but why?

Perhaps it is because of what it represents: a fresh start! I can’t honestly tell you how many New Years Resolutions I have made over my lifetime, but I can tell you that before my 30th birthday I normally failed…

Another thing I can tell you is that since my 30th birthday I have started using a new strategy. Each year I choose three resolutions, based on my convictions. The first always has to do with my relationship with God (and yes this is a measurable resolution), the second always has to do with improvement of my family relations, and the third is a physical or strength building resolution (i.e. lose weight, or run a certain distance everyday).

For the past three years I have attained all the New Years Resolutions I have set, but the question still remains, how, and why?

I believe the key to setting goals is picking things that you are TRULY committed to seeing fulfilled:

It is one thing to say you are committed to God with words; it is another to FULLY live a life devoted to serving Him!

It is one thing to say you are committed to your family; it is another to FULLY live a life devoted to being a family member (whatever your role may be)!

It is one thing to say you are committed to losing weight; it is another to FULLY commit to watching what you eat and exercising!

Have you ever made a goal about something you didn’t really care about? I believe the quickest way to fail at achieving anything is to set goals about things your not passionate for!

So as you think about your core-values (what in life do you really care about?), decide this year that you will set New Years Resolutions, and that you will ACHIEVE Them! Will it be difficult, of course! Will you face resistance, of course! Will you be a better person for following through with your plan, OF COURSE!

HAVE YOU FAILED AT ACHIEVING NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS IN THE PAST? THEN CONSIDER THIS:

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:13-14

Day Two - Dreams, Goals, and Baby Steps!

After establishing a plan (See yesterdays post) and choosing to embark on a journey it is important to understand that:

The truth is that, “Every expedition starts with a step”!

We were created to dream. In fact God created us with precision and knows exactly who He created us to be. Many of us are searching for self-worth…we are on a quest for significance. Often what limits us from getting the dream job, or from experiencing fulfillment in life is that we fall short of accomplishing our life goals.

Would furthering your education cause you to move closer to becoming the person God created you to be?

Would receiving a promotion at work cause you to move closer to becoming the person God created you to be?

What would allow you to inch forward in your quest for significance?

I believe the reason many of us fall short of living a life of significance is we fail to set smaller goals that propel us towards accomplishing the ultimate goal.

Take weight loss and fitness goals for example. People ask me all the time what it was like when I first started working out. Looking back on it now, I wish I had recorded that first day back in February 2007…I went outside and attempted to run a 1/4 mile…before I could even make it 100 meters I had to stop. I am going to spare you all the details but lets just say it wasn’t pretty!

I wish on that day I could have seen the Ben that would run his first 5k in September of that year!

I wish on that day I could have seen the Ben that would run two half marathon in December of 2007 and

January 2008.

I wish I could have seen the Ben that would run a half marathon on January 6th in 1:37 minutes and a Full 26.2 mile marathon on January 7th, of 2010 in 3:35.

I wish I could have seen the Ben that would attempt and complete a 40+ mile training run in the year 2010.

I am not trying to stroke my own ego here…I am trying to encourage ANYONE who will listen. YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH anything you put your mind to. But where does it start?

For me in the area of running it started back on that cool February day when I had to make a decision. Do I stop, because lets face it…321 pounders don’t run, and ME I DON’T ENJOY running, I don’t even UNDERSTAND people who run!

That day I had to make a choice and it went something like this. “You can’t run this whole track, but you can run to that bench…” and so the journey began. The next day… guess what, I made it past the bench and to the corner and the next around that corner. I continued until I could run the entire track, and that was just the beginning.

Life is a lot like running…

Maybe you once had a dream, and you were on your way but then you stopped before you arrived at your desired destination. What small goal could you set today that would cause you to be closer to reliving and

realizing that dream tomorrow?

What would you see if you could see the who you had become after you made THE CHOICE?

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalms 37:4

Picture on the left is the day my 1st daughter Kaylee was born
and on the right me five months after the running incident!

Something Has Gotta Change!

Something Has Gotta CHANGE!

There is a vast difference between a GOAL and a WISH…although I believe a large percentage of people confuse the two daily. A Goal can be a wish, but a wish cannot be a goal! In fact a goal without a plan is nothing more then a wish.

The difference between being where (or even who) you want to be and where you currently are is dependent on a plan to move from point A to point B. Self-improvement, fitness, spiritual growth, these all come from having a clear TRAINING PLAN.

Whether your goals for 2011 include losing weight, growing in your relationship with God, quitting smoking, being on time, or something else, we are doomed to fail without a plan to follow!

When I weighed 321+ lbs and led a completely sedentary (inactive) life the consequences of my life choices were terrible health. I realized that in order for something to change, I had to change my plan for living life! AND TRUST ME EVERYTHING CHANGE…

No: Broccoli does not taste better then pizza…choice?
No: Waking up to workout at 4:30 a.m. is not as comfortable as sleeping in…choice?
No: Praying and reading the Bible are not always as entertaining as watching TV…choice?

These are everyday choices that keep us from realizing and living in the health we want and say we desire!

What about you: What unhealthy habits would you like to change in 2011? What would your life look like if you could accomplish this?

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18


Below, a before and after picture...There is so much more to this story, I can't wait to share with you.