Some Self Observations From Winter Jam
An essay on Grace, Health, Love and Life
2/11/13 – Here after midnight, sitting up in my “work chair”, thinking about the night that has come to an end, I am feeling a little like I have been run over by a truck of emotional “stuff”. And what better to do with that kind of feeling, than write about it, and pray that we walk away with some learning.
First off, tonight is the second week of the Total Food Makeover. Life change is happening already, yet there is so much time left, you should come if you planned on making week one and failed to for some reason. So with the TFM all around me, I am in that mode of thinking about health, and diet, and from that I get a lot of thoughts when out in public about how sad the state of our Country’s health is, and how so many people need to find commitment.
The problem (search my Daily Sprout page for how eating organic makes you mean), is that it becomes easy to judge in that moment. I was heading back into Phillips Arena from the restroom, and while I was walking down the steps, I glanced at the singer of Sidewalk Prophets on stage, and immediately thought, “He needs to lose some weight”. The singer is significantly (IMHO) overweight, and though he sings great, he moved around a bit like someone who shouldn’t be moving around too much. And that saddened me in the instant.
A little later, as the talk about Grace was getting pushed in, I felt guilty for my thoughts about this man. I began to feel like I might have been judging him, which is a difficult and slippery slope. It’s easy to lose site of someone’s talent, when we identify something that WE feel, is a problem within that same person. I heard him finish out his set, with humor and great singing, and with a desire for him to reach greater health, but with nothing in the way of me enjoying his talent.
I was moved to bring this up, because we are here in the early part of the year, where many of you have had big goals for the year, ones that involve weight loss as the destination. Others have heard the story of people who have that goal. I think our greatest need, when it comes to the world of health, is to openly pursue it, with the assistance of people all around you, and to be part of that assistance to others.
It is often a quiet personal thing to pursue health, but it should be discussed more freely. Do we quietly sit and think negatively about the person who needs to lose 200#, if we see them on The Biggest Loser doing CrossFit (Bob Harper has largely moved all of his training to CrossFit methodology, they can do it… you can do it)? Because we KNOW that person is giving 100% to their struggle for health, we are in full and positive agreement with their life.
Encouragement is critical in our lives. Not in all arenas, because of course we feel comfortable with ourselves in many ways. But in the arena in life, that you struggle the most, encouragement is necessary. It might be health pursuit, it might be something to do with your family, or your job. But as my mind slipped in and out of this discussion while sitting at the concert, I realized that privacy, though very tempting, in any area of life, brings failure to our pursuits.
I want to back track for a moment. I bought tickets to this concert, those of you who know Winter Jam, probably realize that it is a “no ticket, show up at the door and pay $10” kind of concert. Buying tickets, is not available easily, and probably not the wisest way to go (now that I have done it). They were club level tickets.
We were told that the doors opened at 5pm. We arrived at 5:15pm. And there was no way in. We were turned away at the entrance for the club seats and suites, told that they were only taking the suites in that door tonight. So we walked towards the MARTA entrance, but the doors were closed, there was a huge line of people, and I couldn’t get anyone at the door (I went to the front of the line to ask where we should go) to answer my question.
Then we walked to the other side, same story, the line was three times as long (raining by the way) and I could get no response. So we went into the CNN center to wait in line. Our thought was that they were just controlling the in flow. I went to the front of this line and asked about our tickets (there was someone actually standing outside the door). They told me we had to wait, so we did, but they were letting nobody in. I went back up and asked again, this time, a little more urgent, and with a little more concern over my paid tickets not being of value. After a few radio calls, we were let in, right when we heard them announce “The doors are now closed, no more admittance will be allowed of any type”.
I struggled with peace in this time. I consider myself a very peaceful, and relaxed individual, but in this time I was not. I know I have other areas in my life that need more work, but at that moment, instead of recognizing that it would be very difficult for a concert of this size, only charging $10, to have the ability to sort out all logistics, I was just frustrated. But seriously, they are offering an opportunity for everyone to come to this concert. $10. My expectation should have changed.
Perhaps all you need to find success in life is an expectation change. Work tirelessly towards your pursuits. Share those efforts with the people around you, and be committed without concern over results. Day by day, one foot in front of the other. This is a sure way to find success.
Be well and be blessed! – Dr. E