Spiritual Fitness & Living With Chronic Pain

After taking the first step forward, the next footstep towards change becomes even more difficult due to the inconspicuous nature of doubt.

To change from your old ways of doing things means to change how you think. Ironically, this is precisely where doubt attaches itself – within your mental abilities to process – in terms of how you perceive who you are and what your significance really means.

Even before the heel of your foot strikes the ground on your second step, the odds are highly against you from moving forward without opposition. It is more likely that you should anticipate doubt to thunderously raise its voice against your earnest desire to change for the better.

From one perspective, you might be filled with inspired optimism from God, being able to imagine the best of the best for yourself. No more pain. No more sorrow. No more poverty. And to boot, perhaps, you’ll finally conquer your worst fears of never being able to overcome your biggest obstacles.

On the other hand, all you have to do is to look into the mirror. Change doesn’t seem to happen fast enough. By its nature, doubt will inevitably rush to your thoughts, reminding you of your repeated blunders, as well as your inability to refrain from addictions, such as overeating, over-drinking, overdosing, overspending, over-procrastinating, and for that matter, over anything else.

As for me, I kept reverting back to my old ways of trying to change. Being stripped to almost nothing still wasn’t enough because I continually relied on the few instincts that once gave me tremendous success. Practically speaking, I had placed my faith on the strongest parts of my willful mind to try to overcome chronic pain and obesity. The end result of my efforts fell miserably short of my expectations.

Meanwhile, in terms of how I perceived doubt, well, quite frankly, I thought very little about its existence. Doubt seemed to be the least of my problems in comparison to the constant barrage of pain I had experienced. Fooled by the loudness of pain, I kept trying to overcome what I thought was the fiery test of my life, which seemed obvious to me – painful suffering.

Nevertheless, I learned that pain wasn’t really the enemy I needed to defeat. In fact, the insistent communicator of pain actually pointed me to seek the truth when nothing else was working for me. And the deeper I went by faith, the more I discovered the living reality of God.

Slowly the scales were being removed from the eyes of my soul. The painful instruments of trials were deliberately clearing away the blind spots about walking in change. Fiery pain wasn’t preventing me from moving forward, but instead, it was doubt.

What’s really on trial? It’s not your brokenness. On the contrary, it’s your belief system. Your most seemingly insurmountable trials aren’t the reasons that prevent progressive changes from happening. Rather, it’s the deceptiveness of doubt that stops you from seeing how to effectively live out the process of your redeemed life.

Keep me on your favorites about spiritual fitness. You can begin this exciting journey of transformation regardless if you’re living with chronic pain or if you’re up against horrendous obstacles.

This particular entry relates to my last blog in which I spoke about the choice to live according to the Spirit, even though I was and am still experiencing the flu crud…Let me explain what I meant when I emphasized “to live according to the Spirit.” It took me years of pain to satisfactorily grasp the meaning behind this…

Theological terms like born-again, new creation and regenerate man, just to mention a few, represent the newness of life for anyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ. And when this declaration of salvation occurs, literally, as well as instantaneously, all who believe undergo a miraculous spiritual conversion. It’s beautiful. There is no other reality like this. As examples of this transformation, peace, freedom, newness, forgiveness and love begin to connect you with an awesome, infinite God. You are given a clean slate by God to live life fully.

Back to my point…Although this new relationship with God occurs, this does not mean your body also undergoes immediate perfection. In fact the contrary occurs. You will only be given a newly-designed body when you actually die, meaning when your spirit actually leaves your dead body. For now, expect the aches and pains of the body to scream even louder against the assurance of your newly-found faith in Jesus Christ. Your mortal body will try everything to pull you back into the slavery of sin.

That’s why it is critical “to live according to the Spirit” and to put to death the desires of your body. The Spirit has come to make you free against the chains of this world, regardless of your painful suffering and the length of time it lasts. You will not find this new life nor will you discover the meaningfulness of the kingdom of God if you continually follow the instincts of your mortal body.

Keep me on your favorites. Click for updates about living with chronic pain and spiritual fitness at www.gordonselley.com.

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.

Q: What type of exercising do you do when having so much pain?

A: Good question.

Physically:
My ability to exercise has always been based upon what my body can tolerate. For instance, because of the fragility with my neck, not being able to lift anything more than five pounds, I haven’t been able to perform exercises that I once did prior to undergoing four neck surgeries. Thus, anaerobic type workouts, such as weightlifting, are strictly off limits. Regarding aerobic exercises, like running, walking and swimming, there are significant limitations placed upon these physical activities for me as well. As an example, if I were to attempt to walk on an inclined or rocky road, more compressive forces would be displaced throughout the structures in my neck, causing periodic episodes of pain exacerbation. Simply, this is prohibitive for me.

So instead, I perform fast-paced walking on a treadmill with the low-impact surface. I started out slowly, almost at an embarrassingly slow speed, and then I gradually progressed in my abilities to walk at faster paces for longer periods of time. Building a solid aerobic foundation for my body has been quite beneficial.

Behaviorally:
Oftentimes I do my treadmill exercises with tremendous pain. It’s not the kind of pain that causes clinical instability. Nonetheless, the process to exercise against pain is a delicate one. To cause instability is certainly contraindicated. To prolong an illness or disease from recovery seems quite irrational. But with my particular chronic condition, I’ve had it for fifteen years and can reasonably gauge the parameters of acceptable pain responses. I’ve trained my body through the good as well as the bad times.

Also, there is a psychology about exercising when having pain. For me the process is a form of worship with God. As with parents who delight in watching their children play a particular, organized athletic sport, when I work out, it’s like exercising my entire being and doing it to please God. His joy in watching me literally gives me the needed strength to finish my workouts. So when the pain seems unbearable, I still feel motivated to push forward regardless. I think of this process as spiritually exercising. It represents practical, rational worship of my body onto the Lord, being my spiritual service unto Him. After I push through the barrier of pain, discipline of mind and body bring about an expression of freedom for my life. For me, it’s been a very real way to exercise regardless of chronic pain.

Hope my response offers you insight as well about exercise.

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

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

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.

Even if you live with chronic pain or you’re feeling lonely, ultimately, you’re still responsible for how you respond to living. No one else can substitute themselves for whether or not you successfully navigate through the trials of life.
 
Because chronic pain takes a horrendous toll against the motivations for living, that’s why I’m doing what I do, which is to spread the character-producing news of the gospel and to help practically motivate others who are afflicted to better living.
 
Commonly, there are three key ingredients to acquiring the motivation to change. These entail desire, belief and vision. In other words, do you have enough desire to make long-term changes? Do you believe that you can accomplish these changes? And finally, do you truly have a clear mental picture of yourself finishing the race ahead of you?
 
When personally dealing with chronic pain, quite frankly, I answered “no” to each one of these questions. God changed all of that for me. When I leaned on Him in trust, this is when I developed desire from despair, fortified belief from painful doubt, and finally, I visually realized the outcomes of steadfast faith from a place of chronic stagnancy.
 
If I can make the change, so can most of you! You’re ultimately accountable for your lives. The motivational “rah-rah” speeches don’t work against insurmountable odds. It takes a higher power to motivate you from within. This is really the core where change begins to happen. Take the leap of faith. We can no longer consider time as a wasteful resource. There is no better time to start to make change than right now!
 
Keep me on your favorites. For more about living with chronic pain and spiritual healing, visit me atwww.gordonselley.com

 
To your health, Gordon Selley

As Americans we’ve become very complacent about living. Too often we accept things without due diligence. Culturally, we avoid making the difficult decisions because we’re already overwhelmed by stress and busyness and chronic fatigue. Rarely do we question the motives behind what we’re doing and where we’re being led. This attitude translates into mindless decision-making, numbed emotions and the development of improper lifestyle habits – all of which complicates the lives of those who live with chronic pain and struggle with being overweight. Ultimately, this takes away from who we’re supposed to be and what we’re supposed to be doing.
 
To really live is to understand what the meaning of death is to the core of our being. For example, if there was a tiger in the room that you currently occupied, what would you do? Wouldn’t you instantaneously experience the fear of death? Imagine how quickly your heart might race due to this potentially blood curdling experience. Everything would seem very raw and real. There would be no room for complacent decision-making. Time would be fleeting. Your senses would probably be heightened maximally. Every passion about living would most likely spew from every pore in your body.
 
On the other hand, if you knew of someone who encountered a tiger head-on in another room and you were not there, you wouldn’t experience the realness of the situation. The fear of death would be distant to you in every way.  Not surprisingly, your approach to living might lack the qualities of passion and purpose. This is not a great place to be. It’s like being lulled into a slow, slumber about really trying to live life to the fullest, especially when trying to fight through painful adversities. Instead of living deliberately, you’d only react to things half-heartedly and on the basis of avoidance.
 
The lesson from this is this. When we get closer to death, we actually “see” the reason to live. This is when we’re thankful about living and we give all our passions to our cause. And for those who profess the Christian faith, that’s why we share in the death of Christ. From this reference point of suffering, by faith, we can “see” the value of living and who we must trust when we give our lives to Him.  In essence, suffering perfects the love in each one of us.  We no longer have to live in fearful anticipation of a tiger attack.
 
Keep me on your favorites. For more about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing, visit me at www.gordonselley.com

 
To your health, Gordon Selley

I’ve been writing about how to change against the current of chronic pain and being overweight. Some of my suggestions have included different perspectives about thinking and feeling, discovering newfound areas of spiritual healing, as well as breaking old, fixed patterns of unhealthy behavior. 
 
It’s not as easy as it seems when making changes. In order to move beyond short-term changes into long-term transformation, the entire body, including mind, emotions and will, must work cooperatively toward a singular vision.
 
Regarding short-term change, for instance, like breaking food, drug and alcohol addictions, many approaches rely on conditioning methods, such as imposing negative imagery upon old habits, and conversely, enjoining positive feelings toward the newer ways to do things. Typically with this style of change, well-thought-out lists of “dos and don’ts” and mental exercises to shape your views are incorporated religiously. This approach proves effective in the short term, but lacks sustaining power over time.  Because eventually we develop immunity to stressful reinforcement suggestions and like clock work, we revert back to our former habits when we tire of effort. The boomerang affect definitely comes into play.
 
Relative to long-term change, experts in the field of neuropsychology advocate the use of replacement therapy, in which an old addiction is replaced by a new alternative. To accomplish this type of change, people must find an alternative way to satisfy or improve upon their feelings. This method has proved to be one of the most effective approaches regarding transformation.
 
Personally, I take replacement therapy one step further. Because I believe that long-term transformation is not about satisfying one’s emotional base exclusively. The mind and will and spirit must work together in unison. That’s why I believe real, permanent change is about becoming who you’re supposed to be, and then real transformation actually occurs. Because when you become who you’re supposed to be, you’ll forfeit old habits and addictions in exchange for a new life with renewed ways of being, doing and living.  And for those who migrate to faith, becoming who you’re supposed to be and what you’re supposed to be doing is putting all of yourself into the hands of Your Creator.
 
Keep me on your favorites. For more about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing, visit me at www.gordonselley.com

 
To your health, Gordon Selley