Fit-to-Fat-to-Fit Blog: What your mind believes

Goal Weight: 195 lbs.

I’m a firm believer in what some people call “God moments.” Those moments of destiny when someone or something gives you a little nudge in another direction.  Sometimes they can be large, like a diagnosis of a disease. Or small, like a random word of encouragement from a stranger.  I had one of those moments yesterday. And it came exactly at the right time and in the U.S. Mail.

The past year and a half have brought forth many challenges and blessings. And at times, both have come in the same package.  This week has been a very frustrating week.  Several projects have hit the wall and I have hit it along with them.  Add to it a sick dog and me having to quit caffeine.  I’ve have a headache and have been pretty low. At times, I feel like my ego has been whacked like a piñata.

Yesterday I walked out to the mailbox and found an envelope addressed to my dog, Banjo. Banjo has been really struggling with his diabetes over the past couple of weeks and nearly died.  If not for a lot of great vet care and his will to live, no doubt he would not be sleeping on my bed right now. My friend Luke, one of the wisest men I know, sent Banjo a package. In it were two shirts and a certificate. Luke was the Cross Country Coach at Pope High School when I was a janitor there (and he’s originally from McComb, Miss.) On the certificate, he made Banjo an honorary Greyhound. (Pope’s mascot). And he included a Pope CC running jersey for him and a shirt I had drawn 20 years ago for the CC team. I unfolded the shirt and my jaw dropped at what was written on the it:

The Body Achieves what the Mind Believes.

Twenty years ago, I probably passed that quote off as a sports cliche — something you’d see on a Nike commercial.  Yesterday, it was an epiphany.

The Body Achieves what the Mind Believes.

I found it so true during Paul Lacoste’s Fit-for-Change workouts. Once I stopped fighting what we had to do and embraced the workout, I achieved amazing results. My body quickly followed my mind.

I thought about every part of my life that is out-of-synch right now.  How much of that is because my mind is resisting the change that is ahead of me. Is my ego actually the cause of much of my problem?   I looked about at 20 years of success literature and it all was summed up in that saying, printed in blue ink, in my own handwriting and on that shirt:

Your Body Achieves what your Mind Believes.

I ran five miles this morning.  Didn’t want to — I was enjoying sleeping.  But my mind took charge and my body followed along for the ride.  I got to the overlook and took this amazing picture, said a quick prayer of thanks for another day and quickly continued running.  (I burned 803 calories off.)  And I thought about what my body is telling me right now about my mind.  I have reflux.  My mind is stressed out.  I thought about why my mind is stressed out — what is real and what is not real.  What I can control and what I can’t. I made a mental list and I ran down the wooded trail.

I’m not a big tattoo guy (I prefer cancer scars), but I did get one, I’d have it tattooed right on my arm:

The Body Achieves what the Mind Believes.

Now to go start retraining my mind. My body will soon follow.