Temptation and Endurance

Okay, let me just put it out there and say it for the whole world to hear. “I have a drinking problem.” Wait, that’s not really accurate, let me restate that. “I have a problem with drinking.” No, that is still not correct. “I have a problem and it is related to not drinking.” There we go, that’s more accurate. But let me explain and maybe you can help me solve my problem.

First off, I like to drink beer. More specifically, nice cold IPA beers on the weekend. So when my wife and I went on vacation recently to Kauai, I made sure I stocked the refrigerator at our rental house with plenty of Hawaiian “Big Swell” IPA beer. Every day we went to the beach, or went swimming in the pool, or paddle-boarded, or played golf, and it was so much fun. We were on vacation, so we relaxed our normal constraints and ate and drank whatever we wanted. The only downside was that besides getting nice Hawaiian tans, we also gained some nice Hawaiian weight.

When we got home my wife suggested we start dieting together from now until Christmas. It was more like a healthy eating plan coupled with a structured workout routine. So, without really thinking about it, I agreed and helped write out the fitness programs for both of us. As we got started on the healthy eating plan, my wife explained to me that I wouldn’t be able to drink beer. Yikes! Wait a minute! I need to rethink this whole idea. “Too late”, she said. “You already agreed!”

So herein lies the problem. In my normal routine at home, I don’t drink during the work week but will almost always have some IPA beers on the weekend. I’ve never thought about it that much, or worried about it, but now that I am being told I can’t drink beer… I can’t stop thinking about it! And now that it’s become forbidden fruit, every beer commercial on TV is making me nuts. Why is that? Why is it that when we can have something we like, it’s not a big deal? But take it away from us and it becomes huge.

Maybe its just human nature. Weren’t Adam and Eve given a beautiful world filled with flowers and trees, fish and animals, and plenty of food.  And weren’t they told they could eat anything and everything they wanted, except from that one little tree in the center of the garden, the “Tree of Life”. So what did they do? They went stupid and ate the forbidden fruit. What is wrong with us humans!!!

I’ve been on the program for a while now, so I’m getting used to it, but I definitely have to fight temptation. So I came up with an idea. They say that the only way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a different habit. So I went to the store and bought Gatorade G2, plus two protein juice drinks, Mango Orange and Berry Blast. I take all three and mix them over ice and it creates a really good tasting drink that is healthy. It might sound silly, but when I drink the G2 juice, it not only tastes great, it makes me feel good about myself. Did I solve the problem? No... But I did come up with a way to endure it!

And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. 

But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

~ 1 Corinthians 10:13

No More Pain

When I was 10 years old, I loved my riding my bicycle really fast. At that time, our family lived in El Toro Marine Corps Housing near the foothills. One day, I got going way too fast down a steep hill and lost control. By the time I was able to scrape myself off the street, blood was pouring out from both of my knees. I cried the whole way home as I pushed my mangled bicycle back up the hill. Funny thing is, within a week my injuries were a distant memory and my knees were pretty much healed up.

My physical pain was gone, but the emotional trauma was still there. Not the trauma from the fall, the trauma from embarrassment. Apparently, several kids on my street saw me lose control and eat it hard. They thought it was super funny and made sure to tell everyone at school what a lousy bike rider I was. When I think back, I can still hear the kids in the school hallway laughing at me.

However, as I’ve gotten older, I realize that things kind of reverse as we mature. Let me explain.

A month ago, I went to Costco and bought several of those large 40 bottle cases of water. As I carried one into the house, I banged the back of my hand against a sharp corner of the countertop. It hurt like heck and I dripped blood all the way back out to my truck. Here it is one month later, and my hand still hurts, plus the wound hasn’t healed up yet. So I still have to wear a stupid band-aid every single day.

Also about a month ago, I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in 20 years. He’s a lot younger than me and the first thing he did was to comment about my “gray hair” and the second thing he did was to ask me how it felt to be “getting old”. Both of those comments reminded me of what a jerk he was, but at the same time, I realized his comments didn’t truly bother me at all. I’ve discovered that one of the benefits of “aging” is learning to take things in stride and not worry so much about what other people think.

At that got me thinking… Young people usually heal quickly from physical pain but not so fast from emotional hurts because they lack maturity. So, the sooner we learn that we have the ability within ourselves to flatten out some of those steep hills in life by simply deciding who we will let hurt us and who we won’t, the smoother our ride will be!

It’s sad to grow old, but nice to ripen.

~ Brigitte Bardot