...But Not Yet

Last night I had a dream...I was dreaming that there was some type of a mob outside my house chanting for me to add a post to my blog. As I peeked out the window I saw Gary holding a torch, initiating the chant - he seemed to be the ring leader. Adrien and Mary were assembling some type of gasoline bomb. Sarah, Liz, and Emily each had a pitch fork - with edges that were ground to a perfect and shiny point. Lori was dangling a pair of track shoes and had many exercise charts depicting the proper way to perform lunges and other painful exercise maneuvers. In my dream, I scrambled to the computer and started my new post. The noise outside subsided and the angry crowd dispersed. As I woke up, heart racing, forehead drenched with sweat, and teeth clinched, I knew what I must do and I knew that I could not wait one more day.

Why did I skip a week? Well, busyness grabbed a hold of me tightly and wouldn't let me loose. I did manage to get our house plans finished and I squeezed in a couple of workouts. One thing I should note - If you are going to try Lori's Lunges, I strongly recommend they be performed indoors so that when your kneecaps pop off like a champagne cork you can find them - both of mine were on the church gym floor spinning around like quarter that has been flipped on the kitchen table. Also, it probably wouldn't hurt to bring the proper tools and hardware to reattach your patella’s after they stop spinning. I failed to perform this step and had to wait until I got home - a pneumatic staple gun works great.

I weighed in at 292 lbs - that is a total of 10 lbs lost. From my recent weight loss we can deduce one of the following two items: either the slow and steady weight loss process is manifesting itself or each of my kneecaps weighs about a pound apiece.

Apparently, my last post was a little tiny bit hard to understand. I'll try to hold the desire to relate life to physics at bay. Today I will bring up a pretty cool principle that I believe can help us all and it falls more along the lines of historical.

Back in the 4th century A.D. a child was born to a much revered woman named Monica, who was a devout catholic, and a pagan father named Patricius. The child was given the name Augustine. Augustine was raised primarily catholic; however, in his youth he didn't allow himself to become fully affiliated. In fact he left the Catholic Church and followed the controversial Manichaean religion, obviously to the chagrin of his mother. He spent the next several years living a hedonistic lifestyle that included thievery and practices based on lust; in fact he developed a relationship with a woman who would be his concubine for fifteen years. Having a very bright mind he engaged in the study of philosophy and rhetoric. Between 373 A.D. and 384 A.D. he had different career endeavors from teaching grammar to establishing schools of rhetoric, and of course, he continued being influenced by his Manichaean friends and engaged in sinful practices, particularly of a sexual nature. It was in the year 384 when a man named Symmachus, a roman politician, was charged to find a professor of rhetoric for the imperial court at Milan. Augustine, at age 30, won the job, the most visible academic chair in the Latin world. It was at Milan where his life changed. Partly because of the influence of his mother, partly due to his falling away from the Manichaean religion, partly because he took up the study of Neo-Platonism, but, most of his transformation was due to his association with Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, and fellow master of rhetoric. In the summer of 386, Augustine had an intense personal crisis and decided to convert to, and fully embrace, Catholicism. He abandoned his concubine, he quit his teaching position in Milan, he relinquished the practice of rhetoric, he gave up any ideas of being married, and devoted himself entirely to serving God and the practices of priesthood, which included celibacy. During his transformation, as he faced the daunting task of removing himself from sexual wantonism to become a pure and clean practician of Catholicism, he uttered his famous prayer which included "God, grant me chastity and continence, but not yet." To make a long story short (this story is getting pretty long)...Augustine was ordained a priest, became a famous preacher, served as the bishop of Hippo Regius, and was later canonized as a saint.

I'd like to talk briefly about the three words "but not yet". How often do we want to change, and even want it badly, but there is something that is alluring us to continue in our practice and even resist change. Case and point - Smokers! I don't know many smokers that do not want to quit, but there is a strong 'fix' they receive from the cigarette that they 'just can not live without'. I, being a fat guy, would love to be a fine specimen of good health and fitness, however, I love the taste of chocolate and I am a bit afraid of the costs associated with change, I mean...when will I find time to exercise 200 hours per week?, can I live on rice cakes and nutrition shakes?, will a 'structured' lifesyle kill me off?, will life still be enjoyable? (exaggerations added). The strange thing is...I know that the end result (lean & mean) is very much worth whatever the price, but for some strange reason, I have such a hard time shutting the door on the past and puting forth the necessary means to accomplish the very desirable end. Can anyone relate?

I think the answer is as follows: Anything in life that is worthwhile comes at a price and even considering the complexity or magnitude of the price it still becomes worthwhile.


Just do it! - Nike

Do it...now - Spencer W. Kimball


Hasta for now...I hear that chocolate donut calling! (ha ha)