A friend of mine is recovering from cancer.  In the scheme of things, it wasn’t the worst cancer you can get, the chances of recovery are very good.  However treatment has been very involved with surgery, chemo and radiation.  There have been side effects, some set backs, eating issues etc.  But he is on the path to full recovery and that is very good news.  On a recent visit to the doctor he continued to hear good news, but also news that the recovery will still take many months and the work is not done.  The Doc also added a prescription that needed immediate attention: “Go have some fun!”

We work hard in life.  We work hard at our jobs, at our health, at our relationships, at our finances, at our homes, at our learning, at our faith… but how hard do we work at our “fun?”  And if we are working at having fun, does that take the fun out of it? Last week I heeded the doc’s advice when we had the whole family at the cabin for the day.   The kids were wake-boarding (in the cold and rain) and it looked like fun.  So I took a shot at water-skiing.   It’s been many years since I’ve skied, and I often plan on getting in shape to take it up again, planned to have fun, but never did.  So I just did it, and it was fun!  (It wasn’t pretty, but that made it more fun for the kids. Fun can be infectious)

So I am with the Doc here, go have some fun.  Don’t spend a lot of time working at it, don’t over plan it and over think it, just go do it… have some fun.

The Scene of the Fun

Take Care!

I’m not much of a mechanic, just like I’m not much of a techie. I had an idea for a post as I struggled to get my 4-wheeler running to train the dogs. The thing won’t start, wouldn’t start last year either so my solution was to not train until snow fell. I’m trying to get a head start on training this season so I started puttering with the old Honda before it got too cold, but with no luck. Fortunately my neighbor Duane has been willing to teach me a thing or two and the problem has been narrowed down to the carburetor. I have this great shot of the carb torn apart and I was gonna post it but it’s been so long since I’ve posted a picture I couldn’t figure out how. You’ll have to settle for a downloaded picture (something I still remember how to do) from the Honda site for a graphic:

So what’s my point you might ask? Mechanic fitness training, 4-wheeler fitness, technology fitness training, just like spiritual fitness training requires consistency and care if you want to develop and maintain your ability to perform.

I’ve neglected the Honda so the carb gunked up and quit performing. I’ve neglected my tech skills, they got gunked up and I couldn’t perform a photo upload. But…… with the help a friend who is mechanically in shape, I’ve been able to work on the four wheeler and I see performance right around the corner. With any luck, one of my weblog consultants (Griff, you out there?) will come through in the near future and my photos will soon be up and running too.

Does your soul ever get gunked up due to over use and neglect of care? When it does stop running or is running rough do you have the skills to get it back in shape? And if all seems lost and you’re ready to just park your soul and give up on using it, do you have someone to call to help you get it running again?

Consistent training and available training resources are important aspects of any fitness training programs, physical, intellectual or spiritual. So keep on working out, and if you start running rough, ask for help, and if you don’t know who to ask, give me a call – I know people who can fix things!

Take Care, Dan

Yup, I’m hooked, hooked on the Discovery Channel’s game show “CASH CAB”.

This guy is the show’s host, Ben Bailey. The premise of the show is simple, you get in the cab, Ben asks general knowledge questions for the duration of the ride and you get cash for correct answers. The only catch is that yuo get the boot from the cab if you get three strikes, wrong answers, before reaching your destination.

My favorite part of the show is the “shout-out”. You have the option of using two “shout-outs”, a “mobile shout-out” where you can call a friend or a “street shout-out” where you ask for help on a question from someone on the street. I’m always disappointed if there isn’t a “street shout-out”. I love seeing how people are willing to jump in and help perfect strangers win money with nothing in it for them except maybe getting on TV.

So here is your exercise: How are you answering the spiritual questions in your life? Are you asking spiritual questions? Do you have all the answers? How many strikes do you have against you for making spiritual decisions that are wrong for you and your spiritual fitness? And here is the big one, Where do you go for help, where do you send your “spiritual shout-outs”? Family? Friends? Clergy? God?

Check out the show sometime, it’s a show that always makes me smile!

Bonus Exercise Question (of no spiritual value): Back when I was a patrol officer I used to watch a similar game show after middle shift, a show that few watched, but we were faithful. The Show was “Remote Control” Name the channel and host. (Not so hard with Google, but fun anyway)

Take Care

I may be dating myself here, but today’s Thursday Spiritual Fitness Exercise is “Spinning Plates”. My memory of spinning plates, a sort of juggling act, came as a kid watching the Ed Sullivan Show. A man would come on stage and proceed to place spinning plates on the end of a long pole standing upright on the ground. He would add more and more plates to poles and excitedly run from pole to pole, re-spinning the plates to keep them aloft on the poles. If the plate slowed too much it would wobble and eventually fall to the ground and break into many pieces.

Much of what we do and how we spend our time is like this guy running from pole to pole trying to keep all the plates from crashing. We have family, job, self, community, home, health, financial responsibilities, all seeming to need attention at the same time. Where are our priorities? Which plates need the most attention? Which plates are we willing to let fall?

So, here is your exercise, take an inventory of the plates you are spinning. Are there plates that you can let fall? Are there some plates you should take the time to carefully set down until you have more time? Are there plates you can ask someone else to spin for awhile? But most of all, where is your “spiritual fitness” plate. Is it spinning? Has it crashed or did you never start it spinning? It is important that we take the time to take stock in how we spend our time. Our nature has us spinning plates, lots of them. Make sure they are the plates you want and need to spin.

Take Care!