Sunday, May 3, 2009

Got Ambition ?

Why are you tired and lazy?

My life growing up was mostly about work. Lots of activity. Lots of things going on. Lots of thing to do all the time. 7 days a week. Even on Sabbaths there were things to do. After church there would often be a potluck. This required, of course work and preparation. After that, Sabbath afternoons were full of activities with family and friends. Hiking, tennis, games, camping, etc. God's law is all about family really. Then there was Saturday night volleyball in the school gym during the winter months. Sunday was the day to work at home. It was what you would call real homework. Of course Sundays were never long enough to get everything done around the place.
Do you know the three, primary, basic, battles in life? The three main struggles? Laziness, Drunkenness, and Ignorance. You might say that Laziness covers it all. You could say the same though of Ignorance. Actually, work ethic is everything. No matter if it's mental, physical, or spiritual. Henry Ford said, " Genius is nothing more than the extraordinary capacity for hard work." Everything takes effort.
When I was young, like most young kids, I had plenty of energy. I remember later in my teens I had to make more of a conscious effort to keep going. Most young people go through a real lazy streak then, and as you know many never grow out of it.
Fortunately, I liked working. I found that the more physical it was the better I liked it. That's undoubtedly one of the reason's I wound up in the tree business. That and the fact that all I ever really knew was, cut and chop and pack wood.
Until I was about 35, I thought I was indestructible. When I started to fall apart at that early age, I became quite depressed. Now in my 50's I find I am totally addicted to physical activity. It's the only thing that keeps me going. I'm just thankful when I feel good enough to get out and enjoy working. I started this blog business last year. Got off to a good start, but I just haven't been able to sit down long enough to update them for the last 5 or 6 months. I'm going back out in the rain. I'll finish this later.
OK, you can see what I'm saying. If you learned good work habits growing up there's a good probability you will retain that all your life. If your parents sat on the couch, you probably sit on the couch. It's really alarming how many grow up sitting. Sit in front of the television [don't get me started!]. Sit in the car. Sit at school. Sit at work. etc. etc. This is one of the reasons a good scouting program is so essential to any healthy community. [don't let me get started there either.] I'll be here forever. " Of the writing of books there is no end."
Now for the next angle on the problem. Diet and health. I've spent my whole life studying diet and health and fitness whenever and wherever I could. I could definitely write books and more books.
When you are young you're full of it. Many were quite ambitious in their youth in spite of their bad diet and bad habits. Then comes premature aging. You just don't feel like it anymore. The signs of old age start popping up everywhere. This is the biggest cause of the problem. Bad habits of eating and drinking. Old before your time. Believe it or not, it starts with many in their late teens. How sad. In other words, when your young you can get away with eating and drinking anything anytime.
Life the way Nature intended is to remain relatively functional until your 90 or so and then keel over without any extended illness or suffering. Chief Swift Arrow lived to 129. I'm sure he was in better condition when he was 100, than I am now. Today the majority start to fall apart in their 20's. They are over the hill in their 30's, and disabled in their 40's or 50's.

1 comment:

Miranda said...

I think you must rub off on me. I just finished windexing the water heater and washing down the duct work in the laundry room. It's just so irresistible. I think a lot of it is having a vision for where you're going and heart of gratefulness. Otherwise it is easy to get bogged down. Hence laziness ignorance and drunkenness. Everything in fact begins with giving thanks.