I was listening to Ocean Robbins on a podcast with the folks from Mastering Diabetes last week, and he said something that I had never heard. He said that “fear pushes, and vision pulls.” I believe that, and I live that, but I have never heard it said quite like that. Fear pushes and vision pulls. I like it.
Everyone tends to be driven by some fear, and we react out of fear sometimes. But what if we could be so comfortable in our own skin that we could be ourselves and not be afraid? There are lots of areas where people walk in fear. Of course, Ocean was talking about lifestyle choices, food in particular. I couldn’t help but be saddened by all the superficial things we do as people. The way we dress, where we buy our coffee, what gym we belong to (but rarely attend, or attend because we want to be seen there). Who eats Kale salads because you don’t want to get cancer, or stopped eating Mangos because you have Diabetes?
Fear, Fear, Fear. It pushes us to buy every last gallon of water in the grocery stores, and every comfort food because it is going to snow. Advertisers use fear all the time. Many of us are afraid to put down our phones, because we might miss something that someone just posted. But we are apparently not afraid to miss out on a conversation with the person in the same room with us.
There are no magic bullets, and no magic pills or diets, and the pursuit of them can lead to burnout and despair. Fear pushes us and vision pulls us. What if we decided to put down our cell phones and turn off our media? What if we just chose Kale because it was better for us?
What would a better world look like to you? What would a better you look like to you? Instead of wishing you won’t get cancer, heart disease, or diabetes…. or wishing you would lose 20 lbs. Think about how much fun it will be playing tag with your grandkids or climb Mount Pilchuck every year till your 80. If you wanted to do those two things or pick another amazing thing that being healthy would allow you to do and use that vision to pull you to the tops of mountains, to not only out smart your grand kids (or kids) but out run them too!
What changes would you make today? Some of you are thinking, I could have done that 20 years ago or 20lbs ago or I never could do that, and you are probably right, but the goal isn’t to do the seemingly impossible today. The goal is to start to do the seemingly impossible thing today, based on your vision for the life you want to live and the legacy you want to leave. Small steps can equal miles of satisfaction and joy, step into a plan based on vision and enjoy this life even more.
Change is hard, but change is possible!
Tristan
