Pick A Tree And Run To It

Attributed to Jason Jensen

One Saturday morning for my daily exercise, I took a three-mile trail. This particular trail I absolutely enjoy because it takes me through the woods and what a joy it is. There is something about breathing the air that’s surrounded by nature, so peaceful and serene. It’s almost as if I can reach out and touch God. But there was a life lesson that I had the liberty of being taught because I’m always opened minded and ready to learn and God is always ready to teach. This lesson however wasn’t something new that I learned as much as it was something that solidified in my thoughts.

I’m not much of a long distance runner. It’s something that I have to force myself to do, but I enjoy nature so much that I’d make any excuse to hit the trail. Did I mention I don’t enjoy long distance? I had to come up with a mind game to block out the monotony of the, pit pat, pit pat, pit pat, as my feet followed the same boring sequence across the pavement, while all along focusing on my breathing, in the nose through the mouth. And it hit me. Like most awesome heavenly revelations do.

The answer came to me as if it were my own thought although I knew it wasn’t. And the answer to the problem was, focus on a tree and run to it. How profound right (sarcasm)? But yep it was that simple. Shall I repeat it? Pick a tree and run to it. Once again to refresh your memory I am out in the middle of the woods following this trail, so there are trees all around me and all I had to do was pick one, focus on it with all my attention, and run to it. Did it work? You bet it did! I felt impelled to run harder and faster because I was so intensely focused on getting to the tree it seemed as if it magically pulled me to it.

Every time I passed the tree I focused on ahead of me I readjusted my focus to the next tree. And as Einstein said, time seemed to fly by as if it really were relative. I’m a big reader and especially a reader of self-help and success books. One reoccurring theme is a definiteness of purpose and concentration on that purpose. A definiteness of purpose is exactly what it sounds like, a definite purpose, or a clear and absolute reason or determination to achieve a desired effect. Everyone should have a clear reason for living or something to strive towards. This is only natural. Then once you figure out what that thing is, concentrate on it. And I mean really focus on it. Just like the tree seemed to magically draw me closer to it until I was in arms reach, so will your purpose draw you to it until it’s not in arms reach, but until it’s in your arms.

So then fellow reader, I encourage you to find your tree. What has God purposed you to do? And guess what? If you’re reading this, you have a purpose. And this isn’t some nice political influential make you feel better about yourself spill. This is absolutely the truth. You have a reason for living, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. So discover it, focus on it, and run to it.

Practical Health: Body, Soul, Spirit

Hello reader, today I would like to focus on the health components across the board from our body, to our soul, and on to the spirit.  I titled this piece “Practical Health” because it is a matter of fact that we take care of our being. As I have said, across the board, our being consists of our body, soul, and spirit. Each component has a special need which should be met each day if we hope to retain good health.

I know that we will usually associate health with the physical body, but our physical body does not conclude who we are. We have to realize that our physical body is only a part of the whole which in totality is our being. Have you ever seen a person who is in great shape but are constantly under stress? Eventually this mental overload of stress will have an adverse effect on the natural body.  

The natural body was made from the dust of the earth which is why our body needs sustenance which are grown or are sustained by earthly elements like plants and animals. The body is sustained by the thing which it came, and that is the earth. We know enough about eating healthy and working out so we won’t go into detail here. Physical health is self-explanatory. Eat right and exercise.

The soul comes from the creative side of God. Our soul consists of the mind, the will, and the emotions. Through our soul the greatest poetry, art, music, expressions, and inventions have been created among other extraordinary things.  So then if the soul came from the creativity of God, the effects to sustain the soul are the things that came from God’s creativity. Things like nature. Nature is extraordinary when we take the time and admire its handiwork. It is truly a wonder and is very creative. Other things include uplifting music, a good book, spending time with a close friend, studying art, or playing an instrument if you know how. Each day we should do something that would take care of the soul and keep it healthy. Keep a journal and record your thoughts. Try to find a way to express yourself within the parameters of values and good morals. Excessive television puts a damper on being able to feed your soul wholesome foods. Television to the soul is like fast-food to the body. Television gives us a quick and easy thrill which doesn’t require much more effort than to sit and watch, sort of like a drive thru window. If you feel like you have to watch television turn to the History Channel or indulge your mind into the Discovery Channel, watch anything that has substance. Reality television isn’t good in excess and is like foods with empty and simple carbs.

Our spirit came directly from God’s Spirit. So guess what we need to sustain our spirit? That’s it; we need the spiritual things that come from God. Like what? Like the Bible. The Word of God is a collection of the thoughts of God and God is a Spirit so then His Word is spirit. His Word is alive and it is active. Some of us have all that we need. We have awesome health and we may be rich in friends, books, and studying the arts, but sometimes we still may feel like something is missing. The reason that some people can feel like this is because they left out one component and that is the spirit, the most important component. Each morning a Psalm and/or Proverb should be read along with any other passage. Prayer is also food for the spirit. Have a life of prayer. You can never pray enough. Quite possibly some of us may have a spirit that is in a drought and is in need of everlasting water that it may never thirst again. Take care of your spirit. Take care of your being. Do not neglect it.

This sums up this section of practical health. Hope you enjoyed.