Tapping Into Strength

So you've decided to improve your health. You've made goals and have made those goals a priority. Here comes the next part: finding the strength that it takes to make those little daily changes, to keep at it, to push through the difficulties and to crush that self-doubt. Well, here are some quotes that might help with that. Most of the health and wellness books out there will tell you that the strength that you need to accomplish this is within you. But when I started doing research for this posting I noticed something very interesting from the Writings of the world's major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Baha'i Faith. They all stated in very clear language that the source of all power and strength was God.  

So if we find strength within ourselves, it is a sign that we are exercising the virtues that He has inherently endowed us with. That means that you already have perseverance, strength, courage, fortitude, patience, and all the other qualities needed to accomplish your goals and much much more, you just have to start exercising them. But you don't have to do it alone. Ask for help from God, your friends, family and, of course, your buddies at the Health Devotional! :D  

 

"O friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny."

- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, p. 195

"All that which ye potentially possess can, however, be manifested only as a result of your own volition. Your own acts testify to this truth."

- Baha'u'llah Gleanings, p. 149

“Humanity has emerged from its former state of limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become imbued with new virtues and powers, new moral standards, new capacities. New bounties, perfect bestowals, are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts and blessings of the period of youth, although timely and sufficient during the adolescence of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the requirements of its maturity.”

- `Abdu'l-Bahá, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh

"A man that stands alone, having decided to obey the truth, may be weak and slip back into his old ways. Therefore, stand ye together, assist one another, and strengthen one another's efforts"

- The Sangha (Buddhist Teachings)

“Physical pain is a necessary accompaniment of all human existence, and as such is unavoidable. As long as there will be life on earth, there will be also suffering.... But suffering, although an inescapable reality, can nevertheless be utilized as a means for the attainment of happiness. This is the interpretation given to it by all the prophets and saints who, in the midst of severe tests and trials, felt happy and joyous and experienced what is best and holiest in life.... In every suffering, one can find a meaning and wisdom. But it is not always easy to find the secret of that wisdom. It is sometimes only when all our suffering has passed that we become aware of its usefulness....”

 - Shoghi Effendi: from letters to individual believers (1947, 1953)

 "Happy is the man whose strength is in Thee"
- The Bible, Psalms Chapter 84

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”

-       The Bible, Mark 9:23

 

"O ye who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear Allah; that ye may prosper."

- Qur'an (Surat 'Āli `Imrān 3:200)

“Be calm, be strong, be grateful, and become a lamp full of light, that the darkness of sorrows be annihilated, and the sun of everlasting joy arise from the dawning place of heart and soul, shining brightly.”

-       ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha  11 pp. 405

 

“Let no one imagine that these words imply that man should not be thorough and careful in his undertakings. God has endowed man with intelligence so that he may safeguard and protect himself. Therefore, he must provide and surround himself with all that scientific skill can produce. He must deliberate, thoughtful and thorough in his purposes, build the best ship and provide the most experienced captain; yet, withal, let him rely upon God and consider God as the one Keeper.”

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace  pp. 48

Original Washington post article here 

Gene Weingarten: Elliptical humor

By Gene Weingarten, Published: June 14

A few weeks ago, I played a thrilling game of Ping-Pong with my editor, Tom the Butcher. I lost 22-20 in overtime. Afterward, Tom said he was worried I might be a little out of shape.
“Why ... do … you ... say … that?” I wheezed.
This had not exactly been Ping-Pong as played by those wiry Asian guys in short pants who stand 15 feet away from the table and launch blurry shots that look like rounds from tracer bullets. That made Tom conclude I was inappropriately winded. An interrogation ensued.
Tom: Do you get any regular exercise?
Me: I walk the dog.
Tom: That’s it?
Me: Uh, yeah.
Tom: So, basically you’re saying you might get more exercise than a person who cannot walk.
Me: Well, not a Paralympian or anything.
Tom: So, basically you might get more exercise than a bedridden invalid?
Me: Yes.
That is when Tom suggested I seriously consider going to a gym.
The last time I had been to anything called a “gym” was in junior high school. Everyone was afraid of the gym teacher, Mr. Gluck, and not without reason. This was back before mandatory sensitivity training for teachers. One year, Mr. Gluck was in charge of administering color-blindness tests; when one of the seventh-graders timidly asked what would happen if you failed the test, Mr. Gluck said, “We take you out back and shoot you.”
So, my memories of gym were not entirely positive. But, of course, this was a completely different thing — an adult gym, a health club, which was comforting until I walked inside and felt a strange sense of panic. It turns out this particular gym is a converted junior high school.
The clerk at the front desk gave me a form to fill out, with an elaborate checklist about my medical history. In answer to a question about why I was there, I wrote, “Ping-Pong wheezing. Tom T. Butcher is concerned.” This was accepted without comment or question. It occurred to me the gym didn’t really care about my medical history or why I was there, so long as I flashed plastic, which I did. I was accepted for membership.
The first piece of equipment I encountered was a jungle gym, a big colorful fuzzy one. It looked easy! I figured I’d spend some serious time on it and call it a day, until I realized I’d wandered into the day-care center.
A guy named Dale took me on a tour of the real machines. The first one we stopped at was something called the hammer press, in which you lie on your back and lift a barbell. I assumed the position, grasped the crossbar, braced myself, took a deep breath, and lifted. My arms straightened above me and locked at the elbow. I held it for five full seconds like I’d seen in the Olympics — one Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc. — then brought it down again. Dale told me I had done real well, but I should have let him put some weights on the bar first. After he affixed 90 pounds, I tried again, but had to stop because I was turning red and making alarming little squeaky noises, like those automatic toilets before they flush.
Dale left me alone with the elliptical machines, in which you are forced into an unnatural motion that simulates riding a unicycle while punching people in the face, like Rambo the Clown. I decided I would do it for two minutes longer than the woman in front of me, who I guessed to be about 80 years old. She was wearing what looked like 1890s beachwear. When I gave up about six minutes later, she was still going strong.
My initial membership lasts two months after which, presumably, I will either be more toned and fit, or they will take me out back and shoot me.