Hunger, Health, and Happiness; a title stirring in my brain as
I awoke this morning. Many years ago I
learned concepts of self-discipline when I was not disciplined much at all. I was more than a typical self absorbed young
adult trying to learn how to live on my own and prepare for my future.
I skirted on the edge of rules at a conservative university
feeling like I deserved some uniqueness. One day I realized that uniqueness is
more those who learn how to control their lives than those who let life take
them where every wind of cultural fancy blew.
I wanted to be good at what my profession might be
someday. I wanted to do well in school
so I could have opportunity open up to me.
I listened to a presentation which taught skills for time
management. I read a book about how to
read a book faster. I tried to improve
my study skills. I made list after list
of things I needed to do to improve myself.
Somehow I was still missing the improvement I expected. The lesson for me was that learning
self-discipline is like weight lifting.
You don’t go from bench pressing 125 to 215 over night. It takes time and persistence to generate new
habits to a self-perpetuating lifestyle. I would have to be patient as the new
me emerged, or just give in to failure and mediocrity. Patience was not my norm. I needed an 8 week boot-camp so I could come
out a different creature. I had no idea
growing up was going to be so hard.
The rest of the school year went OK with incremental changes. But boot-camp was still needed. I chose a two year mission experience for my
Church as my crucible. I intended to be the
hardest working most obedient missionary ever.
Talk about an extended boot-camp; missions are monk-like discipleship. I was determined to survive.
Now don’t get me wrong, I loved serving the people of
British Columbia and Alaska, many of whom were native North Americans. But
dirty moldy bathrooms, cots to sleep on, peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches or
cold cereal at most meals, 16 hour work days, -50 degree weather, 90+%
rejection, no television or other entertainment when you need to “chill”, restricted library, constant return&report
prying eyes, and a culture that insisted on not giving up, caused my
free-spirit to feel claustrophobic. But I
was determined to finish the course.
In late 1973 I left for home after two full years of self
imposed spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual boot-camp. It was the
most difficult thing I had done up to that point in my young life. When I went back to college in January I
discovered I had changed. My focus was
better, I had goals. I was more
interested in what the professors were trying to teach me. My grades took a huge leap forward. My boot-camp had done the trick. Self-discipline was no longer the anomaly. It had become much more natural.
Now here is where Hunger, Health, and Happiness come
in. It takes a decent amount of self
discipline to maximize happiness. If we
are too self absorbed we get out of balance and happiness suffers. But learning to take care of the essential
ingredients of life: hunger and health make it possible to access maximum
strength and happiness. A trusted Church
leader taught me that in order to be of service to mankind, I must first learn
to control my own appetites and passions.
Then I would be capable of helping others along the way. His famous speech was titled “Know Thyself, Control
Thyself, Give Thyself”.
So here I am 40 years after my boot-camp having made similar
mistakes as in my younger years. But
this time the reason was different. I
had been serving others non-stop since I came out of my original boot camp and
forgot to continue to control my appetites. I had gained a total of 100 pounds
since I left my mission experience at age 21.
So I have created a new boot-camp, but this time I sleep in
a cozy bed in our comfortable home and have not had to go monk-like. My
boot-camp is teaching me new habits to take care of my health and hunger. I am eating differently now. I am in my 6th week of my weight
loss program.
My body is changing and my attitude is improving. My energy
is up and my productivity is better. My
creativity is skyrocketing. I have been
caught off guard by how many things have changed since I determined to put some
good old fashioned self-discipline back into my health habits. Even my golf game improved.
I have a long way to go. I am particularly anxious to get to my goal-weight of 199 lbs so I can go on a maintenance program and keep the new habits firmly set. I refuse to yo-yo this time. I will be more useful to my wife, my family, my profession, and others. Besides, it’s really nice to feel so much better physically. Hunger, Health, and Happiness is my new mantra. Happiness for me and thereby for others around me.
To learn more about my weight-loss program go to:
http://weightlosspowerusers.com/content/video-testimonials
If I can help you, I am able to offer you free shipping and some bonus food with every order. You will also want several books to teach you about nutrition and the science behind weight-loss that has worked for over 30 years. It is recommended by over 20,000 doctors. There is an iron clad guarantee to give you time to evaluate how well it will work for you. Its a no-risk offer that will change your life forever.
