So, I am sitting here watching the Biggest Loser and the trainers are running the contestants crazy during their workouts. These men and women who probably had never worked out before they came to the Biggest Loser Ranch are doing exercises that elite athletes do to train for the toughest level of competition. What strikes me, is that some of these men and women are ready to quit during these workouts. The man who went home last week asked his teammates to vote him off. I can't blame him for wanting to go home to his family, but seriously, thousands of people would have given anything to have been in his position and to ask to be voted off is just plain horrible.
I think the problem with the mindset of the contestants during some of these workouts is a problem we all face at some point in our lives. The problem is that we see hard times or difficult situations as punishments rather than opportunities. When it comes to such a point when we believe that we are punishing ourselves through our diets or through a workout that is too hard we usually do what that guy did last week, we quit. We give up, because quite frankly, we don't like to be punished. It isn't a pain thing or an addiction thing, its a mindset. We need to change our mindset to see opportunities.
I love the movie Evan Almighty, not because of the great acting or the wonderful cinematography, but because of one very clear message that is made during one conversation between Morgan Freeman who played God and the wife of the lead character. She tells Freeman, who was serving her as a waiter, that she had been praying for more time with her family and for things to be different. God responds by saying, "Do you think that when you pray for patience, God gives you patience or does he give you the opportunity to practice patience?" It is the same with time with your family or humbleness or whatever you pray for. Think about it, if God just granted us wishes like a genie, how would we grow? How would we get to know Him better? How would we understand life more? God could just make each of us thin? But He doesn't. Instead, He gives us the opportunities to learn how to eat properly, and learn how to exercise carefully for increased health. It isn't a punishment!!!
Don't worry, if you view some of your struggles as punishments you aren't the first person to do so. The Hebrews were freed from their Egyptian captors. God used Moses to lead them out of Egypt and into the desert. Once there, the hardships of heat and sore feet seemed to make them forget the torment of 400 years in captivity. At one point a lack of water seemed to prove too much. Exodus 17:1-3 tells the story.
"At the Lord’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded. “Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?” But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
When God had proven His commitment to the Hebrew people time after time, still their was complaining. He had brought the plagues upon the Egyptians. He had parted the Red Sea. He delivered food from Heaven. Yet still the people complained that they would die. Clearly their mindset was one of punishment, even though now, free from bondage they had a great opportunity.
It is time not to see the hardships that lie ahead as a punishment but rather as an opportunity. If nothing else, it will be an opportunity to get on our knees and pray. During this weight loss journey, I pray that we all look at the diet and exercise as a opportunity. Biggest Loser Nomad is a great opportunity. All of us participating have the opportunity to learn healthy habits. All of us have the opportunity to exercise together. All of us have the opportunity to hold one another accountable in love. It is time to seize the opportunities in our life.
Love the positive spin, babe!!
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