Spiritual Fitness & Living With Chronic Pain

For the industrious, the importance of making plans, formulating strategies and mapping out goals allows one to chart a course of responsible living, which is inarguably filled with a heightened sense of driven purpose.

Without debate, this course of action spawns higher values and a sense of greater accomplishment.  Yet unavoidably, sometimes well-preparedness and purpose-driven fervor cannot prevent catastrophic trials from happening.  Look all around, even at those who have soared to the highest positions of leadership in business, education, military, athletics, medicine, religion and politics.  No one has proven invincible during this season of shaking.

The silver-lined clouds pour rain upon the righteous and unrighteous alike.  Our diverse culture depends upon each other, markedly defined by the weakest point in the chain.  As much as the prudent strive to insulate themselves from upcoming calamity, their efforts remain temporary, if not futile.  Perplexity assuredly has followed the path of complex problems that were invented by human greed.

Although each person must endure his or her trials, it’s time to acknowledge how each personal victory corresponds to the welfare of the surrounding collective.  Simply put, the richness of our society depends upon everyone’s benefit, whether stationed high or low within the American social structure.

Carving out one’s personal niche to glean selfishly will not help to solve the torrid flood of problems awaiting us, especially if the surrounding community continues to disintegrate.  Attaining higher personal standards is certainly noble.  But if these personal endeavors contribute to neglected relationships and a crisis of unity, then additional pitfalls are sure to come.

Although I certainly do not condone socialization within the Democratic system, I am a strong proponent of faith and it’s outcome, which is transformation.  Basically, the message about wholeness from salvation originates from God.  While this impacts people eternally on an individual basis, the good news also spreads to the community at hand, then eventually to every society beyond the immediate borders.  Faith, hope and love bind all people to God, Who then promises to restore those nations who haven’t forgotten Him.

Perhaps the United States might benefit if it were to include God as a part of the solution during these seemingly insurmountable times…

Keep me on your favorites.  For more about living with chronic pain and spiritual healing visit me at www.gordonselley.com.

To really understand how to get rid of fear baffles even the experts. Fear is not something you can catch and put into a glass jar like a lightening-bug. Rather, it’s elusive to our senses most of the time. Actually, fear is quite deceptive, slivering its way into our lives without our permission or awareness. And when you recognize your life is enveloped with fear, it’s usually after it has taken hold of your circumstances with a tight grip.

For one to simply recommend to get rid of fear as if it were easily disposable lacks understanding about the psychology and spirituality of your humanness. You can’t get rid of fear within the snap of your fingertips. It takes much more than that.

Frankly, to get rid of fear is sometimes a long and tedious process.

Fear latches itself onto the brokenhearted person, causing convoluted thinking and twisted emotional reactions. Fear does everything possible to mar your spiritual nature, to prevent you from being free from sin, and to deter you from achieving your ultimate purpose in life. Fear stands in direct opposition to love. Its function directly contradicts the process of transformation.

To summarize what to do to get rid of fear… is first to deal with your brokenness through love and forgiveness. Once you deal with your brokenness, then you’ll understand the construct of your fear and how to overcome it head-on. The entire process hinges on becoming whole by discovering who you are and then living out your purpose fully.

Keep me on your favorites.  Please click onto www.gordonselley.com for more information about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing.

Let me save you some time about how to have faith when making changes. Here’s what typically happens. When people discover faith for the first time, they’re super enthused about really changing for the better, no matter the sacrifice involved. And then as time passes, commonly, the results of making these purposed changes happens very slowly and minimally, and then when discouragement sets it, well…we know the final outcome. Most people abruptly give up on the process altogether.

Nonetheless, when things get even worse, people somehow navigate towards what they believe as truth and begin the process about making positive change all over again. This pattern of starting over by having faith in change, then giving up when the results are not quickly obtained repeats itself until hopelessness eventually prevails.

This vicious cycle is clearly seen when referring to those who live in chronic pain or for those who struggle with being overweight.

Many confuse this failure to succeed in making changes as a direct result of not having enough faith, which brings me to the point regarding this blog.

Simply, we’re not asked to have faith in the ability to change for the better. And secondly, we can’t define or specify how faith works itself out completely. Or if we could, this is certainly not faith.

Faith is peculiar, meaning it comes from one source. And when we place our faith in God, we’re inwardly believing what God says to us is absolutely true. His ways are far greater than ours; causing us to relinquish our brokenness to Him so that He can ultimately change us from the inside out.

In summary, when we put our faith in God, He’ll help us to make the right changes for the better, as opposed to us trying to determine the exact changes to make, and then calling this faith. We really don’t have faith in others or in money or in opportunities or in anything else. Again, this is not faith when we count on something other than our one true source.

Here’s what faith is. Faith comes from receiving the testimony of God through Jesus Christ. Let this truth sink deeply into your being to understand real faith and its miracle-producing change available for you…

Keep me on your favorites.  Please click onto www.gordonselley.com for more information about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing.

Because our country celebrates Martin Luther King today, it’s also fitting to remember the realities of this historic occasion.

As with most monumental achievements when the odds seem nearly impossible, acting upon divine inspiration to accomplish something greater than what man can do on his own defined the embodiment of Dr. King.

Unity doesn’t happen on its own. Breaking down the graveyard mentality of racism took tremendous courage; but more importantly, it took an immeasurable amount of faith in God. And in the case of this civil rights leader, this is exactly the valuable lesson he left behind for this multi-cultural nation to learn.

In order to cope with overwhelming battles, like the ones we face presently, we can certainly learn from the example of Dr. King. In a nutshell, he exhibited the ability to really live, to really believe in the right arm of God that reaches deep down into the soul of man, giving him a renewed spirit of love and goodness. It was from this pool of hope that Dr. King encouraged others to draw from…for the alternative purported hatred and death.

We cannot solve all of our problems from multi-tiered strategies or from the mere efforts of our newly elected President. Like Dr. King, we must all do our part, laying aside prejudices for the common good of man, person to person, community to community, state to state, country to country… From the depths of unity, we can expand our borders of transformation and go further than ever imagined. This is what Dr. King left us as his legacy – an opportunity to live out dreams bigger than ourselves which would benefit the whole instead of the one.

Q: How do I train myself to eat better?

A: In my previous materials, including written and video blogs, I’ve emphasized the importance to train your bodies when striving for holistic living.

However, if you focus this training principle entirely on restrictive dietary measures, such as limiting the foods you put into your mouth thinking that this is the firsthand answer toward weight reduction and attaining a healthy lifestyle, well…I strongly disagree. Let me explain.

Think about something for a second. Foods do not need to behave nor require training to make you healthier. Foods are not causing your weight problems. The primary reasons for being overweight, beyond the exceptions of genetic predispositions, deal with spiritual emptiness and emotional brokenness.

Please remember this salient point. When your hunger for love becomes satisfied, then your ability to train your entire personhood about holistic health occurs. In all likelihood, your stomach isn’t your primary reason about your weight problem. Commonly the reasons for being overweight are directly related to the condition of the human heart.

This is why it is vital to rethink over everything about your life when trying to make a bold change like acquiring a successful lifestyle. Simply, deal with the brokenness within your life first. Then learn how to walk in ongoing forgiveness. And finally, realize your identity, security, approval and purpose in spiritual terms.

When you gain knowledge about every aspect about your life and make the necessary changes, then food becomes the nutritious tool for your body to properly align itself holistically. As a result, emotional eating will then fall by the wayside because of your improved lifestyle habits.

Don’t train your foods. Instead, train your life for better health.

Walking through toothache pain in the legs

Are you tired after eating turkey? Most likely so, because turkey contains high concentrations of tryptophan, leading one to unduly fatigue and tiredness.

Typically, Thanksgiving is the one permissive occasion for Americans to celebrate the holiday by excessive indulgence of food, forgoing any sensibility about carbohydrate or fat intake. After the nap has been taken and the Pepto Bismol has been poured down the esophagus, the idea of making a New Year’s Resolution about losing weight comes to the mental forefront of many participants. The thought of feeling sluggish and trying to start the New Year against the backdrop of horrendous trials does not sound very appealing.

You don’t have to live like this, trying to sludge through life when carrying extra pounds and facing the health consequences that await your arrival in the future. It’s kind of like having a lion that patiently waits for its prey. Aren’t you tired of feeling weighed down? Do you want to be the prey of some horrible sickness or disease in the future? Of course not.

Instead of waiting until January 2009 to make some real changes with your body, why not get started now? Start today and begin taking small steps into something you thought beyond your capabilities, like losing weight, whether it is 10 pounds or more. I encourage you to read the “Article” section of this site to glean more information about weight loss. Or feel free to peruse through some video programs about the subject. What is really stopping you from making some real changes for yourself? Weight loss is the outcome from transforming change. Change awaits your participation.  Get started today.  No more excuses!

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reflect upon the occurrences over this past year. For many, times have been rather difficult, marked by financial devastation and filled with painful afflictions. Yet, in the midst of it all, can we really profess that we are thankful?

This is a question that you’ll have to answer yourself. As for me, I’ll cogitate.

My thankfulness about life is deeply rooted in God. “O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want” (Psalm 34:8-9, NASB).

From connectedness with God, I thank Him for who He is and the gifts He has given me, aside from eternal life. He has demonstrated great love toward me by pairing me with a beautiful bride, whose name is Cherise Selley. We’ve been married now twelve years, and it seems like yesterday when we first met. Cherise and I seem to be entering into an unusual season of change. Although I am very thankful for my boys, Jake (20) and Kris (17), this entry centers on my appreciation for my marriage.

Being married to Cherise is like having a spiritual fusion between each other and with God. Cherise and I are as one, walking together through life, hand in hand, talking with each other instead of at each other, and integrating intimately instead of selfishly. It’s great because it’s the result of working out our marriage through seasons of difficult challenges, as most of you can surely relate to. All in all, I’m thankful for our indivisible bond of love and I praise God for my wonderful partner. Cherise, I love you!  Thank you for being you.  You epitomize relational friendship and I thank God for how He is using you for His purpose.

This is my last blog until next week. Jake and I are headed to Texas to join Cherise, Kris and our newfound friend, an Australian Shepherd puppy. Cherise couldn’t resist.  The first phase of our trip entails warmhearted greetings from my very kind and thoughtful mother-in-law; her name is Bettye.  She has a way of making everyone she meets to feel very special.  And for the second part of the trip, it’s off to the ranch, where Cherise’s dad and family will host an extravaganza of Thanksgiving delectables.

Hope your Thanksgiving proves meaningfully connected. We’ll converse soon…

Thank you for Cherise

Good Morning!  It’s early here – around 7:00 am. Mountain time.
 
I’ve been awake for hours due to pain.  Right when I’m soaring like an eagle, my being becomes tested again, like a silversmith taking his fiery blowtorch to a sword, then wiping away the dross and doing the process over and over until you can see your reflection clearly from the silver in the armor.
 
How do I really cope?  No medications today.  I’m exhausted.  But I pray and praise God for many of His comforting words in scripture.  His syllables and vowels and verbs are alive this morning, such as found in one of His verses, “This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me” (Psalm 119:50, NASB).
 
On the way to the office this morning I stopped by Starbuck’s.  On the adjacent road from the store, a large buck apparently crossing the street was struck by a Toyota 4-Runner.  The truck was totaled by the collision with the deer.  As for the deer, he laid on the side of the road with his head tilt because of the huge size of his rack. Perhaps somewhat exhausted and fatigued by some recent deaths, I shed a few tears as the manager of the Starbuck’s store looked my way and acknowledged likewise.  Recently, she lost a family member and we have exchanged our stories and have openly shared our grief.  By the way, she always treats me well, making my morning cocktail perfectly. 

 
As tragic as this incident was this morning, it serves as a reminder about the shortness of life. And also, it punctuates the point that we need to live each day as fully as possible. As for the connections we make, it’s quite apparent that suffering creates an indivisible bond of friendship, whereby we can fully appreciate life more so even when witnessing death.
 
So today, I choose to rejoice, not complaining or dwelling in self-pity.  I share this personally with you to explain the reality of life for Gordon Selley.
 
Keep me on your favorites. Click daily for updates about living with chronic pain and spiritual healing at www.gordonselley.com.

 
To your health, Gordon Selley

Where things really go awry in our lives lies in a place called independence. Ever since I can remember I’ve been taught to be independent, to carve out my own personal niche and professional pathway of success in this world. Some old clichés of recommendation ring from my past…Get a stellar education. Never owe anyone anything. Take care of your family. Do the right thing. Invest in your future retirement. Live generously. And, oh by the way, live for God. These themes of independence literally butt heads with the notion of living for God. Because living for God requires a courageous faith to emphatically relinquish our independent spirit and to become entirely dependent upon Him.
 
What does suffering do for us? Simply, it shreds any foundation of independence. Whether physical or emotional, pain has its razor-sharp blade sawing away at our sense of self-sufficiency, all the while working a miracle of redemption within our inner soul.
 
We know we have arrived when we no longer crave an independence from God. Usually this is when God restores to us all that makes the mystery of godliness an open secret, in which the presence of a living God dependently resides within the core of our humanness. It’s powerful and frankly, difficult to sometimes fully comprehend because of its infinite features.
 
When God really made Himself available to man, for what purpose did He do so? For dependency and interconnectedness between God and man that would be fully enriched by unconditional love. 
 
We know God did not re-connect with man after The Fall so that mankind might have physical life. We already have that, along with its aches and pains and deteriorating regression until death. God’s real purpose for re-connecting with man deals centrally with transformation. Through His Son, God sent redemption via the cross so that man might have spiritual life. Succinctly, this is regeneration, restoring the death of the human spirit to one of full and everlasting life.
 
The next time you find yourself complaining about painful difficulties, think of something truly healing and beyond your impulse of independency. Ponder on the wonder of being dependent upon God. This form of praise will lift you in joy from the pit of despair.

Keep me on your favorites.  Please click onto www.gordonselley.com for more information about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing.

Think about being a farmer about your diet and your weight. When preparing to plant a crop, the skillful farmer discriminates between one soil and another, keenly figuring out which soils are better to plow, to plant seed and to fertilize. Like the farmer when preparing the soil, you can prepare your body through close inspection, deciding what types of food to consume, how much to eat and when to dine. These initial dietary measures will improve your metabolism and will also prepare your body to be plowed, in the form of exercise.
 
Once you moderately discern what’s best for your body, then like the farmer, steadily fertilize your deliberate efforts about change through hard work and discipline. Notice how the farmer patiently waits for the fruitfulness of his faithful effort. I encourage you to do the same. Maintain regard for the nature of the seed of changed dietary habits and adapt your lifestyle through appropriate exercise and rest.
 
As you sow resources of aerobic exercise, proper sleep and healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean protein sources and water; you will then reap an abundant crop of weight loss, improved metabolism and an increased immune system. Being a farmer of your diet and maintaining your goal weight will translate into a crop of wholeness. Not only is the soil, in other words your body, better nourished, but also the roots of your soul will produce a richer harvest.