You've Always Been Beautiful

The beginning of a new year usually means New Years Resolutions! Which I think are great. 

However, lots of people give up on achieving their resolutions (or goals and dreams in life) because they give up during the process. Every change in your life is going to require time and/or effort. The best advice I was ever given was to "love the process". 

Last year I fainted for the first time in my entire life. Completely blacked out and hit the floor after taking a hot bath one night. I ended up having an inner ear imbalance and sinus infection at the time but regardless, it shook me up quite a bit. I from then on decided I wanted to change my health. I wanted to sacrifice what tasted good for what was actually good for my body. I wanted to exercise so I could be more energized and alert. I knew that I wanted to simply feel stronger, be more available (even physically!) to serve the Lord, and be in my best health. 

And it has been a year and I am still going! It takes time. And it also should be a lifestyle change, not just a year thing. I started out just walking... maybe about 30-45 minutes a day. When I carved out that time to go outside, walk, listen to worship music, and just be in God's presence, He spoke so clearly to me and taught me so many things through the process of walking to jogging to running. When you set out to achieve a goal or live out a calling or fulfill a dream, you must take it one step at a time and really chose to get mundane things done so that you can achieve your goal, calling, or dream. If I wouldn't have gotten up (almost) every morning and gone walking, I would have never ended up jogging. If I didn't go jog, I wouldn't end up running. It's a process. Sometimes you won't see the fruit right away, but when you chose to daily do it - you will see results.

I just wanted to encourage all of you who are choosing to get healthy this year... that you have always been beautiful. Remember that. Don't let the focus of getting healthy be "to become more attractive" let the focus be on you getting stronger, more energized, and healthier so you can better offer yourself to the service of the Lord. Let it be so that you can have a lifestyle of good health so that you can feel better as you travel, serve, hangout with friends, have a family, etc. 

And remember... You've always been beautiful. You don't need to change to become more beautiful. You don't need to lose weight to become more beautiful. You don't need to do anything to become beautiful because you already are. Shift your focus to something eternal amidst exercising, not something worldly. If you focus on the eternal benefit of good health while on this earth, you will want to persevere when it gets tough or when it gets boring. 

But my advice to you: do it! Just. Do. It! 

My love and blessings to you and your health! May the Lord be glorified in all that we do. 

In Him,

The Third World Girl