Years later, I’m still asked the same question and continue
to find some people that just don’t get why many of us have chosen to forgo
some of the “pleasures” of this world.
It becomes a little clearer when you ask yourself, “what’s my
motivation?”
When it comes to health there are 2 major ideas that will
motivate a person. One idea seems to be
very popular. That idea is: Running from Death. Fear of death will motivate a person to
change habits. Following a diagnosis of
diabetes a person is told “you must keep your blood sugar within these
parameters or it will kill you.” After a
heart attack a person is told “you must change your diet and start exercising
or the next time this could kill you.”
Someone who is obese may have a doctor tell them that if they continue
this path, they are more likely to die an early death and therefore need to
make changes.
We are very attached to these bodies…we’ve had them for
years! The motivation of running from
death can be a good starting point for many people. The problem is it doesn’t need to stop
there. You may start out trying to avoid
death but the changes you do make should evolve into more than that. Forgoing some of those “pleasures” in life
will actually lead you to be able to enjoy the real pleasures in life.
The second motivation is:
Running towards LIFE. Running
towards life means that we are not making changes simply to have more years on
this planet but that we are adding Life to our years. We make changes so that we can DO more while
we are here. Spending time with family,
being a servant and blessing to others, thriving instead of just existing or
surviving. I don’t believe that we were
placed here to simply survive. We are
meant to do great things.
So, what’s your motivation? Do you simply want to live longer or do you want to LIVE?
