HAPPY SATURDAY!!!!

Good Morning and Happy Saturday! Hope you have some fun plans for the weekend. Madison and Cole got back from their honeymoon last night and we get to see them today. I am excited and grateful to see them and hear how their honeymoon went.

Been an interesting week. Some of you have experienced this and are very aware. Radiation and chemotherapy do not make you feel great. I am over halfway through the process which is a good thing. The down side is, it absolutely robs you of energy and your body feeling good or right. That said, I am still doing somethings that are very important to me. One area is super important and an area I want to maybe encourage a few of you.

There are some areas of my life I have been focused on and consistent. I always want to acknowledge there are also areas I struggle and have not done a great job living out. That’s important to me that people in no way hear me as some guy who has “it all figured out.” I don’t have it all figured out!!

This has helped me to think about my life this way. I am responsible for my life, I can not put that responsibility on someone else. I break my responsibility down this way. I have worked on my, spiritual life, emotional/mental life and my physical life. I can say without hesitation, I have been working on this in some different ways for the last 30 years. I can and will write some about these different areas but today I want to share a quick thought around my physical life.

Not bragging or maybe I am a little. I am 57 years old and I wear the same waist size that I wore when I got married 33 years ago. One of the most consistent areas I have taken care of myself is around my physical life. Sidebar, it is interesting that I have done this well and I now have a terminal brain tumor, but another topic. Obviously taking care of yourself well in this area in no way guarantees you will not have some health issues. But that is not the ultimate reason to take good care of your physical self.

My energy level has maybe never been as low as it is right now. I struggle with that, but have slowly accepted it is my current reality. I feel pretty good in the morning and by the afternoon my butt is dragging. But here is the deal, I still go for a walk everyday. My history is I typically work out 5-6 day a week. Lately it has been 3-4 days a week and I am okay with that.

Here is an example. Yesterday was the best I have felt all week. I got up at 4:30am, spent time doing my spiritual care and then I worked out. I did, 3,000 meters on my rower, 60 squats, 60 split squats, 30 dumbbell curl to press and 30 squat-press slams with my 20lb ball. I am not as strong as I use to be and it takes me a little longer than it use to, but in some ways today, this matters more than it ever has.

I am in no way sharing this to impress anyone and for you to say, "WOW!!!” In my world that was a pretty simple workout, but I got it done. What I am seeing with a little different focus is that, I mentally may feel better that I worked out than even the physical side.

This process is helping me experience how the spiritual, physical and mental all really do work together if we recognize and see this.

I want to really encourage you to find simple, consistent ways to exercise and take good care of your body. I have always preferred to do most of that work alone. It does not have to be done alone. Find a friend and do some of this with someone. Figure out for yourself what is the best and most consistent way to take good physical care of, YOU!!!

My main Dr who I love has said, I have probably had this brain tumor for quite a while. Again, taking good care of yourself does not get rid of health issues. The last two years I have been through some goofy health stuff. Kidney cancer, brain tumor and other things. So again, taking good care of yourself does not guarantee that you will not have health issues.

But maybe for those of us that do have to deal with health junk, the physical care taps into the spiritual and mental and that helps us walk through health challenges.

There’s few thoughts this morning. Go for a walk and enjoy your weekend. You are loved and of great value!!!!

Peace,