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Our Bodies Our Responsibility

May 2, 2012 in Fitness with 2 Comments

Playing a musical instrument has been a part of my life for over 40 years. Over the years I have learned some things:

  • A good instrument needs care. If neglected it will become dirty, parts will stick and it will corrode.
  • A good instrument needs constant tuning. It reacts to changes in the weather and how it is used.
  • To make the best possible sound the instrument needs to be played. The player only gets better through practice.
  • You cannot separate the instrument from the player and still expect great music.

I have a strong conviction that we should not separate our spiritual life from our physical life. God gave us an instrument.

We can’t separate our spiritual and physical portions of our life. Romans 12:1 says: Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

When we accept Christ, God gives us gifts and talents so that we can bring glory to God. I believe it is then our responsibility to use these gifts and talents to the best of our ability. Also that means to use them for as long as we can, stay in shape so that we do nothing to hinder our life span here on earth. I have written on this subject here and here.

A few weeks ago I received a email from someone on my team who has also caught this vision: Continue Reading…


Six Leadership Lessons From Being Left On the Road

July 6, 2011 in Communication, Fitness, Leadership with 0 Comments


It was probably dumb but on Sunday night before Memorial Day I committed to going on a bike ride with my neighbor…58 miles. I thought I could make the mileage, but I was concerned that I couldn’t keep up with the speed of the group. When there was going to be only three riders I thought I could keep up. But when ten showed up at the starting point I knew I was in trouble, and I was right. After 15 miles it was obvious that the group was traveling about three mph faster than I could sustain; therefore I was dropped. I did go on to do another 30 miles by myself and during those miles I was reminded a few things about leading a team and bringing on a new team member.

1. Finding people who want to be on your team is the easy part.
I wanted to ride with these guys.
There are always people that want the job but… Continue Reading…

My First Barefoot Run

April 14, 2011 in Fitness with 5 Comments

Twenty-four hours later and my calves were screaming!

After reading a few blogs and hearing some personal testimonies I purchased Vibram Five-Fingers, the Biklaki style a few weeks ago. I knew I had to slowly work my way into a distance run and I thought I had. I now realize that the ‘working-in’ period should have been longer. Continue Reading…


A Fitness Junky’s Confession

March 1, 2011 in Fitness, Spiritual Journey with 4 Comments

For over ten years I have made it a part of my daily or at least five days a week routine to spend a dedicated amount of time in exercising. That chunk of time ranges from a minimum of 30 minutes up to two or more hours. During this time I have been faithful to keep up a ‘quiet time’ with God, however, I recently realized I have been giving more time to keeping my physical body in shape than my spiritual soul.  Over the last six weeks this has all changed; intentionally I carve out a longer time each day for a conversation with God…just me and Him and His Word. I can tell a difference.

We cannot compartmentalize our lives…I cannot compartmentalize, giving attention to one part of my whole being over another.

I believe that we should take the bible verse in Romans 12:1-2 seriously…present our whole bodies as a sacrifice of worship. There are too many of us Christ followers who ignore our physical bodies and only concentrate on the spiritual. Granted being in top physical shape will not get you into heaven, but it will give you a better chance of living more years as a Christ-follower and then encouraging and leading others into a Christ relationship. There are too many Christ-followers, and I used to be one of them who let the spiritual exercise take a back seat to other areas. That was and is wrong.

I want to be a totally sold out follower of Christ…everything I am…balanced so that I can be an example of what I think Christ wants me to be.

Do you agree that Christ wants us to have balance in our lives, including our physical life?

How do you keep balance in your life?

 


Riding with the Group for Success

August 11, 2010 in Fitness, Leadership with 0 Comments

Riding a bicycle is very enjoyable to me and setting out on a 15-20 mile ride, just me and the bike is a good way to spend 60-90 minutes. But when I am ready to log more miles on my bike, I know I will be able to ride better if I am with a group.

Have you ever watched the telecast of the challenging bicycle race the “Tour de France?” On many of the days a few cyclists, 3-7, will break away from the main pack and it seems in no time they are 5-12 minutes ahead of the remaining peleton of 125 riders. To the novice viewer it seems that the main group has given up and will let the breakaway win the day. But the main group knows the breakaway can be easily caught…why? A larger group can go faster because they are sharing the load of leading and pooling their resources.

When I ride by myself I am always out in front, no one sharing the load of leading. I have to keep focused on the task and slow down some to keep my heart rate in check. When I am riding with a group I can go out in front and set a pace. When I need a break I let someone else take the lead and I draft behind them. We keep the same speed but my heart rate will go down 25 beats. We learn that some riders lead better up hills, still others on curvy roads and still others on flat straights.

As leaders I believe we can be reminded of some valuable lessons about leading an organization from the cycling illustration:

  1. A focused goal is important to communicate
  2. Getting everyone to buy into the goal is imperative
  3. Lone rangers often do not have the necessary resources to reach the goal
  4. If the goal has been communicated to the team and everyone buys-in, then pooled resources make success a reality
  5. Groups working toward a common goal spend less individual resources
  6. Encouraging the team members to lead out in areas where they are best

I love going on bike rides…I go faster when with a group.

I love setting organizational goals…I know we accomplish them better as a focused team.


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