The best ten minutes of my day can also be the easiest to miss. I was clearly reminded of that this morning.

To begin, here’s a bit of backstory…

We’ve had a lot going on lately, which is largely why you haven’t heard from me since January. I know how cliché it is to bemoan the busyness of modern life, so I’ll spare you the minutiae and leave you with a bulleted list:

• We have a new baby boy on the way, due to arrive in December.
• We were looking for a new house and just recently moved (whilst very pregnant).
• At the end of last year I was chosen along with seven other doctors to embark on a very ambitious national project (you can see more about it here) designed to double our impact in each of our communities and capture a documentary about the changes.  That project just finished in August.

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Everyday I see people at a crossroads of change.  It looks different for everyone (big life decisions, health, letting go of the past), but I’ve observed that there are people who consistently navigate change very well and those that stagnate on a regular basis.  The funny thing is that they all are desiring a better life, so why do so many stumble along the way?

COMMIT AND GO

Early on I was fortunate enough to have a mentor that drilled this into me: success = decisiveness.  The only wrong decision is simply not making one.  What you can do is be prepared and informed, knowing that either choice will have things you are thankful for and things you regret, things that are hard and things that are easy.  But the key is committing and not looking back – No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God – Luke 9:62.

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Have you ever been put in a situation to see people who value you for what you do, not who you are? Close friends, acquaintances, family – all enamored with aspects of your talents or art but uninterested in you as a person.

Thoughts, dreams, beliefs, principles… irrelevant as long as you can perform.

How can growth occur as you’re moving in these circles?  Condemned to repeating the same dog and pony show with slight variation day after day.

This is why you need a tribe. A place to grow with those of like mind or goals who are there to push you, to pick you up, to help you create your best art.

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This morning as I was sitting down to write I was reminded how easy it is to focus on things we should be doing for positive outcomes instead of addressing our belief system.  Applying that thought to health, I came up with this:

Do you have any beliefs about health to share?  Any you need to discard?  Leave them in the comments so we can continue the discussion.

There is a lot of misleading information out there on what vitamins are best for you.  If you take vitamins or supplements I’d even bet if you’ve been subjected to other’s opinions on what is best for you, or why what they take is superior.  Today I’m going to strip away the hype and start from the foundational paradigms on which vitamins are made.  We’ll begin by looking at the two different philosophies – synthetic and whole food.

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Here’s something I learned after a decade of working in the health and wellness field – trying to change a person’s mind about nutrition is hard.  Many of our nutritional beliefs are passed down from our parents, and while proper eating principles are timeless, our food supply has changed and we must adapt.  For the purposes of this post, nutrition = what one eats, what they don’t eat, and what vitamins they take (if any). 

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I want to begin by saying that Wrecked is a gift.  An invitation to a better, more purposeful life.  As I was turning the pages I could envision my journey to where God has brought me, and was compelled to commit and endure more than ever.

For our generation and the one coming after us, I think Jeff has done a rare thing – put out the right book for the right time.

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This past week I found myself to be very busy.  At the end of the week I noticed there was much I set out to do that didn’t get touched – like write a couple posts for The Adventure.  There were also trivial things off my radar that consumed mass quantities of time.

I was perpetually working on something, but not accomplishing anything.

It brought back to mind what one of my mentors calls The Law of Limited Focus.

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This morning I stopped to think about how incredible the world we live in truly is.  Aside from the stunning beauty of creation all around us, there are many reasons why now is the greatest time to be alive.

It is so easy to forget the greatness of now and wax nostalgic for a time that will never return (have you seen Midnight in Paris?  It got me thinking on this track).  This serves as a gentle reminder to myself–and you–to not only be grateful for the present, but to take full advantage of it.

Being alive right now is awesome, and here’s why.

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Nutrition can be confusing.  There are countless plans and endless research at your fingertips.  If you are wanting to make a change, where do you start?  It’s overwhelming!  Follow this one simple rule to begin eating better and feeling great this year: Avoid the Three White Devils – Sugar, White Flour, Milk (well, four if you are counting Ace Ventura)

Avoid Equinsu Ocha at all costs!

Nutritional White Devil #1 – Sugar

I’ve written in depth about the consequences of sugar before (see Sugar, Cholesterol, and Plaque Explained).  Sugar can be harmful to your organs, lowers your energy, rots your teeth, and makes you gain weight when it is present in your food on a regular basis.

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