Confidence

 

    Confidence is the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something’s firm trust.  You need to have confidence in yourself to get many things accomplished.  That’s what I want to talk about today.  Let’s take an exercise in confidence and see how you measure up!

     No one is born with confidence! Maybe you didn’t know but confidence is a learnable skill? If you look at your life right now you will find you have had confidence in many areas. If you are honest with yourself you will also notice areas of your life where you lack confidence.  Those statements are true of every person regardless of their current position, economic standing, age, or any other factor that you may want to choose.

     For example, I walk a mile every morning and it is a huge part of my life.  I love it. However, this wasn’t always the case. When I first started walking as an exercise, I thought that I could not even get to the end of the block.  But with time and continued effort it slowly became very enjoyable to me.  If I had not ‘stayed the course” I would likely have let the discomfort of the situation force me to quit and give up.

     But I didn’t. I found several experienced individuals who were avid walkers and started to learn from them. I slowly but deliberately became stronger and more comfortable in my efforts to walk further distances. After a few short weeks, it was almost second nature to me. All of the feelings of embarrassment and inferiority had disappeared. I had developed confidence. The same way I had developed confidence when I learned to walk as a baby, when I learned to ride a bike as a young boy and when I learned how to drive a car at the age of 16.  As you look back over your life (even if it is not an extremely long one yet) you’ll find many things that you have accomplished that took time and effort.  But you were able to develop (and you continue to develop) those necessary skills and the confidence needed to get things accomplished.

     There is no trick to the development of confidence. It is a predictable process that any of us can implement for virtually any action or habit in our lives.  The real question is “Have you recognized this and applied this in your life?”

     OR have you mistakenly accused yourself of not having to ability to do something due to a lack of confidence?

     I want you to take a moment right now and mentally review your dominant thought patterns.

     Most people have at least one area in their life where they lack confidence. For some, it could be speaking in public, for others it could be meeting new people and developing relationships. Whatever it may be for you, identify what that specific area in your life is right now!

     How can you do this?  Simply follow the suggestions outlined here:

1. You have to identify a major goal that you would like to achieve
   
   
2. You have to identify where you lack confidence in terms of the obtainment of this goal. I assume you lack confidence in this area because if you did not lack confidence then you would have achieved this goal by now. So, identify what that blockage is:
   
   
1. If you’re an entrepreneur, maybe you lack confidence in presenting funding proposals to other business owners or financial institutions.
2. If you are in sales perhaps you are limiting your success by not pursuing the large accounts.
3. Maybe you are in a relationship and you are not happy with the behaviour of your partner, do you lack the confidence to ask for what you want?
   
   
3. Write at least one paragraph that describes your confidence block and your current state of mind. When you imagine yourself in this situation of low confidence, what comes up for you. Are you anxious, nervous, upset, etc… Describe your state as accurately as possible
   
   
4. Now that you are aware of your confidence blockages, you can begin to redevelop them. Define one major activity that you can implement ASAP that moves you towards your goal
   
   
1. If you have a fear of speaking, your activity could be to rehearse a 10-minute power speech in front of the mirror
2. If you struggle in sales, you could plan to practice and refine your sales presentation with a manager or senior colleague
   
   
5. Write a commitment to yourself to practice this new activity every single day for the next 30 days. If you really want to commit to this, find an accountability partner and perform the activity with them so that you have a witness.
   
   
6. At the end of 30 days, repeat step 3 again and analyse where you are in terms of confidence. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10.  Be honest.  You’re only trying to improve yourself!

     You can continue this until you reach a level that you are satisfied with when it comes to your confidence in this area of your life!

     Once you develop confidence in yourself begin to manifest confidence in others.  Often there are many things in life that we can’t accomplish on our own but will need the assistance of others.  The world has a saying: “It takes two to tango.”  If you’ve never heard that before you may want to do some research and you’ll understand what it means!

     By developing this confidence, you will find many enjoyable new activities in your life and others will be able to see the confidence you exude!

     But there is one caution I would like to mention:  Do Not confuse confidence with arrogance and pride.  Please be careful because we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Never forget:  If you tell yourself you can't,

You can't!"

Figures/Facts

         Many years ago, I heard a story concerning a financial dilemma that I’d like to share with you now.

     There were three men traveling together on a trip and stopped for the night at a roadside motel.  They each wanted their own room so the desk clerk made the assignments and charged them $10 each for the night for a total of $30.  After the men had paid their charges, they went to get settled in their rooms.  The desk clerk realized that on that particular night the motel was having a special on the rates and he had overcharged the men for their rooms.

     Calling the bellhop, he gave him 5 one-dollar bills and told him to return the money to the men as an overcharge.  As the bellhop was going to the rooms, he was trying to calculate how he was going to return the money to the three men when he had 5 one-dollar bills.  As he got to the rooms, he explained to each man that the desk clerk had forgotten about the special rate for the night and they had been overcharged.  He gave each man $1 and kept the other two for himself.  

     Let’s look at the math:  Each man had paid $10, but he was given a $1 refund.  So, his net payment was $9.  If we take $9 times the 3 men, we get $27.  We add the $2 the bellhop kept and we get $29.  What happened to the other dollar?

     You can play that one out in your mind for a while.  But it goes to show that figures don’t lie, but liars’ figure!  The secret to the correct answer to the problem above is that the men didn’t pay $9 each!  It’s only presented that way with our sly calculations!

     Another consideration about the reliability of figures is how they are reported to you.  Consider this little story.

     One year there was a huge international car race held in Russia.  Because of the current political situation at the time only the United States and Russia placed entries in the race. As the story is told the United States had no difficulty in beating the Russian car. 

     However, the reporting of that event was very interesting.  Both a United States major newspaper and the Russian national paper reported on the event.  Both papers report the facts of the event; however, the manner in which the details were reported made a huge difference in the impression that people got!

     The United States paper reported as follows: “The United States vehicle entry in the international race held in Russia concluded with the US car in first place.  The Russian vehicle place last.”

     The same race in the Russian paper was reported as follows: “After the big international race held in Russia, the Russian vehicle came in 2^nd place, while the American car was next to last!”

     You can see that at times EVERYONE can be reporting the FACTS, but they can be putting their own slant on the material and giving a completely different implied understanding.

     Why do we do these types of things?  Because it is our human nature to want to make ourselves look better or if that is not possible, to make our competition look worse!  It all boils down to the fact that we’re only human!

    

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Misquote the facts often enough

and anyone will believe them."

Work

 

    Webster has a very compact and precise definition of the word “work”:  Activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something; activity that a person engages in regularly to earn a livelihood.”

     I have found it interesting over the years that I have been in the “workforce” and especially now that I am among the “retired.”  Although in all honesty I must confess that I’m not exactly sure what retirement is, because it now seems that I am busier than I was when I had a full-time secular job.

     Whatever may be the case, when I think back to some of the individuals that I had the “pleasure” of working with I think some of them must have had the wrong definition in mind about their circumstances.

     I had individuals who would “work” (that is, exert strength or faculties to do or perform something) so hard trying their best to get out of the job assignment they were suppose to be doing!  If they had exerted only HALF the efforts they were doing, they could have gotten the job finished much sooner than the way things would work out!

     Then there were those who performed only the minimal amount of “work” just to get by without really having to do the job as it had been explained to them.  Just as one example: Many years ago, I ran a 7-11 convenience store.  This was at a time when the store was actually opened from 7 am to 11 pm.  I would open the store at seven and work until 5 pm when I had a part-time person come in to relieve me and close the store at 11 pm.

     Before I would leave in the evening, I would give this person a list of things I wanted to be done during their shift, i.e., restock the shelves from the storeroom, make sure they were straight, clean the floor, etc.

     Very often when I came in to open the store the next morning, I would see that not all the things had been done.  Upon inquiring later, I was told by my helper that “they didn’t have time to get that done because they were so busy!”

      I’m not sure if they thought I was stupid or what!  I could see from the register checkout report the business I was doing during my 10 hours of work and I knew what I still had time to do during that time.  I could also see from the report the business they had done in their 6 hours of work and what they were unable to get done.  It didn’t make any sense!

    There was more available time than they wanted to admit.  But, for some reason, they were not able to get these extra work assignments completed!  You have to wonder!

     But work has always been a “funny” thing.  If you really enjoy what you are doing it’s not really work.  You’ll also find that you have no problems getting everything done that needs to be done.  And you can get it done in the time that you have available. 

     So, to really have meaningful and enjoyable work, find something that you really enjoy doing FOR FREE and find out how you can get paid to do it!  Then your work no longer becomes work but merely another enjoyable activity for you to engage in each day.

     The problem is that we usually wind up having a job that we don’t really like, working for a person that doesn’t really appreciate what we do, and having to do it with people that we would rather not be around!  Then again, we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"When everyone does his/her share,

the workload becomes lighter

and more enjoyable."

Better

     Do you ever feel that things just cannot get any worse?  There have been times when my wife and I are watching the evening news and just look at each other thinking: “It can’t get any worse that what is happening now!”  Then when we wake up in the morning and turn on the morning news!  Things have gotten worse!

     Will things ever get better?  Is it even worth thinking that things are going to get better or should we merely view our present situation as the “new normal”? 

     In actuality, our hoping that things will get better usually means that we don’t want things to be as bad as they currently are.  We tell ourselves at times that when we wake up tomorrow, things will be better!  Again, what we are actually telling ourselves is that we don’t want things to continue as they presently are.

     Unfortunately, the problem is that we are looking in the wrong place in order to make things better.  Let me illustrate:  This will no doubt make more sense to the men who may be reading this, but have you ever been working on some project and what you really need at the moment is a hammer.  You look around and you can’t find one.  So, you take the pipe wrench lying on the floor and begin to use the side as a hammer to get that nail into the board. 

     You know the solution to your problem, but instead of using the proper tool for the job you try to make it work with whatever is available!  Now I also know that there are similar situations where you ladies have done something very much the same!

     This is the problem we have with trying to make things better.  We’re looking in the wrong places for solutions.  We are thereby trying to fix our own problems with whatever we have available!

     Now, what is going to happen if we look toward the correct source for solutions?  We can improve our situation; however, we will not be able to completely remove all the obstacles that are before us.  So, until such time as this occurs, we must make the best of our current situation.  We must patiently wait until the time has come for our Creator to change things himself.

     What I mean is this:  Our Creator has made a very interesting promise to us as recorded in his word, the bible.  (Jeremiah 29:11) “‘For I well know the thoughts that I am thinking toward you,’ declares Jehovah, ‘thoughts of peace, and not of calamity, to give you a future and a hope.”

     And yet most of us have failed to seek this source of peace and hope.  We would rather continue to flounder around with whatever we can find available and see if we can “fix” the situation on our own.  We continue to do these things even when we can see that they are against our own best interests!  Why do we spend our lives this way?  Why do we continue to bring sorry and pain within our lives?  In some cases, why do we actually refuse to even give consideration to the possibility that this wonderful source of peace and hope is even available to us?  In general, the answer to these and other similar questions is simple:  We’re Only Human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER 

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Almost remember:  Once you hit bottom,

you can only go up!"

COVID-19

 

    I sit before my computer screen this morning thinking of what I should write about for this blog posting and I start to let my mind shift through all the things that are currently happening in the world and what might be some issues that would be of interest to readers.

     What my mind keeps halting momentarily upon is the current COVID-19 pandemic.  The total tragedy that has befallen mankind these past few months.  And now, at least in the United States, it seems that the crisis has taken a turn for the worse.

     This issue has divided people in so many ways that it seems that subjects have been sorted out to basically you are “on this side” or “you are against it”!  Just consider the following as a small example of what I am talking about.

     Masks.  According to an article posted on www.ucsf.edu (June 26, 2020) “Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization now recommend cloth masks for the general public, but earlier in the pandemic, both organizations recommended just the opposite. These shifting guidelines may have sowed confusion among the public about the utility of masks.”

     That article went on to comment: “What may have finally convinced the CDC to change its guidance in favor of masks were rising disease prevalence and a clearer understanding that both pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission are possible – even common. Studies have found that viral load peaks in the days before symptoms begin and that speaking is enough to expel virus-carrying droplets.”

     “I think the biggest thing with COVID now that shapes all of this guidance on masks is that we can’t tell who’s infected,” said (Dr.) Chin-Hong (UC San Francisco infectious disease specialist). “You can’t look in a crowd and say, oh, that person should wear mask. There’s a lot of asymptomatic infection, so everybody has to wear a mask.””

     A large majority of states now have made wearing masks in public places mandatory. However, how are these requirements going to be monitored?  It will be practically impossible to do so.  The simple truth is that you can not legislate morality.  Those individuals who have made a decision that they want to provide some possible protection to those around them in public will wear a mask simply because they have been asked to do so.  Those who, in fact, don’t care about themselves or others will not!

     Social Distancing.  In discussing this topic consider the following information from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/social-distancing.html: “COVID-19 spreads mainly among people who are in close contact (within about 6 feet) for a prolonged period. Spread happens when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, and droplets from their mouth or nose are launched into the air and land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The droplets can also be inhaled into the lungs. Recent studies indicate that people who are infected but do not have symptoms likely also play a role in the spread of COVID-19. Since people can spread the virus before they know they are sick, it is important to stay at least 6 feet away from others when possible, even if you—or they—do not have any symptoms. Social distancing is especially important for people who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19.”

     This simple action of being considerate of the space of others to help prevent, or at least, reduce the risk of spreading the disease seems to put some people into a tailspin.  “You can’t tell me what to do!”  “I have rights!”  Day after day you see images from various locations where people (particularly young people) are gathering together in very large numbers.  Some have even commented that they are not worried about getting the disease.  Yet where is their compassion for others who may contract the disease from them?

    Then you have the debates going on about store openings or closings, arising now is the discussion about sending kids back to school, or allowing events of one type or another to take place.  And all the while more people are getting sick and dying! 

     I guess I should also mention that there is a third group that falls within this discussion.  That is the group who has decided that if we simple stop testing, stop doing research, and simply ignore the situation, it will go away on its own!  This group would require a completely different discussion than I am prepared to debate here.

     The plain truth is that for the most part we are a large group of selfish, self-centered, insignificant silicon-based life forms that think more of ourselves than is necessary and feel that we have to demand our rights in order to show that we are important.  The basic problem is this: we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"If you must pass along anything

to another, let it be love!"

The Wind

 

    I was sitting in my living room in my favorite chair the other day watching a storm develop outside.  The wind was really blowing the trees in various directions and the leaves where falling here and there.  In a sense it was quite captivating watching the physical objects around me respond to something that I could not see with my eyes.  But I could certainly see the effects it was creating.

     A couple of thoughts came to my mind while all this was going on.  First, why is it that some people can’t believe in things that they cannot see?  And secondly, why are human endeavors that ignore God’s purpose futile?

     In considering the first question we must realize that most people do believe in things that they can’t see!  Or, at least, they put some amount of trust or confidence within things that are not visible or tangible.  Let’s consider an example of what I am talking about.

     Think about the air that we breathe.  You can’t see it.  Yet, you take very positive steps in breathing as a given and probably give very little thought to actually do it.  However, according to any article several years ago on www.hearldtribune.com it was stated that “on average, a person at rest takes about 16 breaths per minute.  This means we breathe about 960 breaths an hour, 23,040 breaths a day, 8,409,600 a year.” 

     That’s a lot of breathing considering air is something that we cannot see and we do not know where it is coming from while we are doing it.  A very simple experiment to show how important it is to have this “wind” (air) available to us for all these millions of breaths we take each year is to place yourself in an environment where there is no air or the air is contaminated.  (I DON’T recommend you try this experiment, but you will understand the results.)

     Think of the men and women who have gone into orbit around the earth.  Or those who have made dives into the very deep trenches of the earth’s oceans?  Do not these individuals first make certain that they have a reliable source of air while engaged in these activities?  Of course, they do!

     So, why is it that so many people have reached the conclusion that God does not exist simply because they cannot see Him?  Most people have not seen their own brains, but I’d venture to conclude that they would say they have one!  Although, many seem not to use it very well.

     Now, that leads into a consideration of the second question.  Although, there have been many endeavors in which men have provided great achievements and advances for human kind, often these things are only done for personal or corporate advantages.  If a person or a company cannot see the financial benefits they often refuse or “kill” the advancement before it can provide any benefits to anyone.

     I recall reading in a popular auto magazine years ago (It seems like it was in the 1960s) about a company which had in pre-production an automobile engine that ran off freon.  As long as the engine system did not develop a leak of some kind, the engine would continue to run.  There would be no need for any other fuel, gasoline, diesel, etc.

     And then according to rumor, and you know how reliable rumors are, it was presumably spread around that the design had been bought by a major oil production company and the development was halted.  If true or not, I do not know.  But I never recall seeing or hearing about the production of automobiles with freon engines.  I only recall that the freon used in your vehicle’s air conditioning system was changed.

     However, in the grander scheme of things, people die, companies go out of business or change ownership, ideas and circumstances change, and life goes on.  The point is that at some point ALL human ideas, inventions, developments, creations, come to nothing!  The only thing for certain is what God had put into motion and continues to provide.

     Even though mankind has violated God’s original purpose and thereby produced a global system that is out of harmony with His will and purpose, He continues to allow them to go on.  However, what many individuals refuse to see is that this will not go one forever.  (Acts 17:31) “Because he has set a day on which he purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and he has provided a guarantee to all men by resurrecting him from the dead.”  At that time, it will certainly show that human endeavors will be as the Congregator (Solomon) stated at Ecclesiastes 1:14 “I saw all the works that were done under the sun, And look! everything was futile, a chasing after the wind.”

     We (humans) cannot hold the wind in our hands.  We cannot stop the will of God from taking place.  Regardless of our decision to believe these things or not, it doesn’t stop the fact that God has spoken them and has put them into motion.  We should give serious consideration to these matters; however, we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Instead of fighting what we can't see,

make adjustments and use it to our advantage."

House-bound

     During the COVID-19 pandemic many people find themselves house-bound.  They may be working from home or it may be that they have decided to “error on the side of caution” and stay sheltered in place.  They perhaps don’t have any particular reason to be outside running around so they have, in effect, self-quarantined themselves for health reasons.

     This may make some feel as if they are not in prison and are not allowed to go out into the world as they had done before!  Now you’ve gotten to that point where you’re wondering WHAT am I going to do with all the time I have on my hands?

     One of my sisters-in-law made an interesting comment recently.  She said: “I’ve found out all those things I never seemed to get done because I didn’t have the time to do them.  Well, not having the time wasn’t the reason I never got them done!”

     That may be the case for many people, but I have heard comments from others who have found the extra time they have now found has been very useful.  Some have found that they are able to get many areas of their home cleaned like they had never done before.  Others have found that those little irritating repair projects have now been checked off their “to-do” list.

    Personally, I have found that I have been able to do more writing and that has been extremely enjoyable.  I now have three books in various stages and I often have some difficulty choosing which one I want to work on during the day.

     I have also been able to do more reading.  When you immerse yourself in the adventure of the writer you never know exactly where you may be going!  This is especially true if this is the first time you have read this particular book or publication.

     There is a third thing I have added to my list of things now that I have more time available.  Have you ever had one of those computer programs that you really like using but there are so many different capabilities about it that you have not yet learned?  I find that true in my case with Microsoft Excel.  I love the many things you can do with this program and now I am spending some time trying to learn how to write different formulas and it is FASCINATING!

     I will only mention one other thing that I have decided to work on during this period of being house-bound: playing the pan flute!  This instrument has interested me for some time now.  I simply love the tones and melodies that are may when I listen to professionals play the instrument.  I actually bought a specially made flue from a shop in Hawaii several years ago and have basically left it sitting in its storage box.  I am now going to spend some devoted time each day and teach myself how to play it.

     There are an unlimited number of possibilities that we could do to better use the time we may now have available.  Often it is merely our mindset to get things put into motion.  However, that nagging procrastination always pulls us in the opposite direction because we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Rich, Poor, Educated or not,

Regardless of your skin color,

Wherever you may live,

We all have the same amount of time each day."

Inside

     I recall on more than one occasion when I was growing up, Mom had put a large basket of Winesap apples on the kitchen table.  Those luscious looking deep red apples always caught my eye when I would go by.  I knew each time I saw them I would be tempted more than I could bear to take one and go out into the back yard and enjoy its delicious sweet flavor.

     This one particular time was no different than many others except this time I could resist no longer.  So, I took the apple and headed out to the backyard.  Along the way I made a swift turn in the kitchen so I could pick up the salt shaker.  That juice inside with a little salt sprinkled on it was going to be delicious.

     I sat in the swing in the backyard and got myself all prepared for that first anticipated bite.  Crunch!  I heard the skin of the apple go as my teeth sank deep inside.  Then when I pulled my lips back, I was horrified and deeply disappointed - - - a worm!

     The piece of apple fell from my lips and I began to spit out the juice as quickly as I could.  What a total surprise!  I never thought this was going to happen by the beautiful appearance presented by the outside of the apple in that basket.  But it just goes to show that you can’t always go by the outward appearance.  It’s what’s inside that truly counts!

     Sadly, many people are the same.  They may spend a small fortune to make themselves look good on the outside, but inside they are devious, deceitful, liars, and sometimes just plain wicked!  It’s very difficult to see beyond the outward veneer and determine what the REAL person is like.  Some are very professional about hiding what they are on the inside. 

     They may appear like Jesus said of the religious leaders of his day at Matthew 23:27: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you resemble whitewashed graves, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of every sort of uncleanness.”

         This is because of one inescapable fact that is also highlighted for us in the scriptures: “Out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.” [Matt 15:19] You can understand how these things would make even a physically beautiful person into a truly horrible individual.

         For some reason many people have the thinking that “beautiful” people do not do wrong things.  It’s only those who are “low-down” and “despicable” in appearance who are doing all the wrong things in the world.  In plain fact, they profile people into certain groups or categories depending upon the way they appear on the outside!

      Many years ago, I watched a television program where they recorded different individuals going into a supermarket and shop lifting in the plain sight of others.  This test was done to see how many of the customers would report those individuals to the management of the store.

     Some of the “thieves” were dressed in business suits or fashionable women’s outfits.  Others were dressed more like you would see an everyday person on the street, jeans, t-shirts, etc.  In almost every case the people dressed to “look” very respectful, prominent, or effluent, were NEVER turned in to management.  Almost ALL the others WERE!

      What did this test prove?  Most people only look at the outward appearance and never give consideration to the person one is on the inside. 

      Isn’t it nice to know that our Creator is not like that, but he sees what is in the heart and He can make decisions accordingly?  We may “beautify” our outsides and fool all the people around us.  We may even fool ourselves into thinking that we are a different person than we truly are.  But we cannot fool the one who sees all things as He looks at the inner person.  As hard as we try to improve ourselves, and we should!  We have to remember: We’re Only Human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Who am I?

The person YOU see?

The person I want to be?

The person I truly am?"

Walking

 

    I finished my regular walking program this morning and began to think about this subject of walking.  First, I say my regular walking program, but I haven’t walked regularly in several years.  I just started back this week.  So actually, my regular walking program has only been for three times at this point.  However, that’s not the reason for my writing on this topic.

     When we are babies, we reach a point where we realize there’s got to be a faster way to get from one point to another than by crawling or shuffling across the floor.  So, somewhere around the age of 9 to 15 months we learn that we can stand on our two legs and project ourselves forward. This process eventually turns into our being able to walk.

     When man was first created, we found walking to be the most efficient means of getting around.  According to the Smithsonian magazine “evidence indicates [that the wheel] was created to serve as a potter’s wheel around 3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia --- about 300 years before someone figured out, they could be used for chariots.”

     It seems from that point forward mankind has always been trying to invent a new or more advanced means of transportation so that they would not have to walk.  You only have to look at the history of the bicycle, the motorcycle, the automobile, the train, and the airplane.  I’ve not even begun to mention the variations of these means of transportation.  Nor have I gotten into space travel and the search to reach beyond our own planet.

     Man has continued to desire to go faster and farther than the generation before him.  This has led to many expensive and dangerous experiments.  But he always wants to seek that new frontier of ever projecting himself forward. 

     Since man came to the realization that as a bi-peddle creature he could move about he has realized this ability has put him to a greater advantage over others of God’s creation.  The plants and other vegetation can’t move forward as a man does.  Even within the animal creation, man has used his technology to make himself superior to them in their efforts to move about. 

     Now after thousands of years of advancement, man has come to a startling discovery:  Walking is a good cardio exercise! Such an exercise as walking at a brisk pace of a least 3 miles per hour works your large muscles over and over and pushes your heart and lungs to work hard.  Over a period of time, this makes your heart stronger and more efficient.

     It can lower your resting blood pressure and heart rate.  It can improve your mood, lower stress, give you more energy and stamina, and sharpen your mental focus and memory.  It can also help you keep off extra weight, improve your cholesterol, build stronger bones and muscles, and lower your risk of diabetes, stroke, and certain cancers.  It can also help you sleep better at night.  And except for the cost of a good pair of shoes and a little time, it doesn’t cost you a thing! 

     It’s hard to believe that what we were given from the very beginning of our lives has now been proven to be one of the best things for us as physical creatures.  Through all our advancements we now see that using the two legs we were given from birth is the best things we could be doing for our own bodies.

     Isn’t it funny how it takes us so long to learn that what we had been doing from the beginning is what we should continue to do for our own health?  But, then again, we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"If you can't pick up your feet when you walk,

sit down!"