What's Your Motivation?

Have you stopped lately to ask yourself why you do what you do?  When I first started making bigger changes in my life to get healthier I had people ask me, “why?”  It was usually followed by a comment like, “What if you are doing all this and you get hit by a car tomorrow and die?”  My usual comment back continues to be, “But what if I don’t?” 

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?