zondag 2 september 2012

Healthy on the outside and on the inside


It's interesting to know how you change the way you look at things. I have hardly bothered how my stomach looked like, whether it was round, flat, big or small or if it was even there in the first place. Grocery shopping is now taking extra time as I keep comparing if particular bread has more vitamins than the other and less carbohydrates. Cheese should have less fat and curd should have 0% fat. Coca cola, my favorite drink is now hardly consumed nowadays as it contains more sugar. I don’t consume readymade packaged food anymore as it contains more salt and in turn pushes me to get home early to cook regularly.

I have never been so conscious about my health in my entire life. When I was a kid, my parents told me that you should be thankful for what you have to eat. Eat with a thankful heart and don't be choosy. We were not allowed to say that something was not tasty. There are lots of children begging on the streets and they don’t get enough food and some are even starving. I think eating healthy and being fit is one of the last things you want to think of when you see people around you suffering and the size of your tummy is the last thing you want to be conscious of.

What made me take such a decision? My colleague is a regular fitness freak and he hits the gym on all the working days. I sit next to him and started noticing the selective food he takes. When I bring something that has extra fat, he immediately notices it and warns me of it. Exactly at 5:30 PM he makes sure that he is in the gym and I see his dedication there as well. Monday its the chest and Tuesday is for the back, Wednesday is for the legs, Thursday is for biceps and triceps and Friday is for shoulders. His schedule makes sure that you don’t miss any part of the whole body. You don't want to have a good chest and shoulders and chicken legs, he tells me. I slowly started imitating him as well.

We have the right to consume all the things, but not all are beneficial for us. If you have a good appearance, people can see it and complement you for that. The hard work outs in the gym and the sacrifice of not eating the tastiest fatty meal results in a good outward appearance.

The more I thought about this, I felt the need for the guarding of the heart, something that goes on the inside and something that is grossly ignored. It's very easy for the inside to be corrupt these days. The seduction that comes from the media in the form of visuals and the lyrics of a song shape the inside and needs to be avoided. It seems harmless initially but in the end it cripples the way we think. We don't like to talk about the things done in private as we don't want rules for the inside and it is termed as personal life.

Pleasure is something for me, which has to be dealt with cautiously and with care. With illegitimate pleasure comes meaninglessness to life. Stolen waters appear to be sweeter but it is not so but however leaves you emptier. I feel that the inside should be taken care of more than the outside. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. Jesus said:”Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder…”. With God given boundaries, we can enjoy fulfillment in life and live a beautiful life on earth.

When the inside is taken care of, it is evident when you are with the person. You can feel the compassion, thankfulness, warmth and the love. There are some people I long to have fellowship with and these are the special people that rejoice when you rejoice and weep when you weep. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I am strongly convinced that true love is something that comes from a pure heart and love comes from God because `God is love`.

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