Are Decisions Sacrifices or Making Right Choices?

Getting healthy usually means giving up and letting go of certain aspects of our lives. When a thorough and no-holds-barred evaluation of the way we live our lives is undertaken, and if we see a clear picture of the results, we might be shocked by what we allow into our daily routines. I believe society's influence has caused a majority of the population to believe that getting rid of harmful areas in our lives is considered a sacrifice when making necessary changes is simply the right thing to do to better ourselves.

I used to think that NOT overindulging in: alcohol, tobacco, Breyers ice cream, Milky Ways, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, donuts, Tombstone pizzas, and 8 straight hours on the couch watching Swayze Crazy Saturday on TBS was sacrifice. Sacrifice means giving up something valued. Value means the importance or preciousness of something. Needless to say, my skewed beliefs belittled the true meaning of what it actually means to make sacrifices.

The way my mind works (now) I think that NOT eating ice cream in favor of obtaining better health is no longer a sacrifice. Putting bad ingredients in your body is harmful; therefore, letting go of doing harm should not be considered giving up something of value. Not going paddling in favor of spending quality time with my wife is. Paddling is healthy and necessary for my overall well being, but so is keeping my wife happy. Giving up an exercise session on an unusually warm winter day is hard to do but watching my wife smile because of a decision I have made is of a greater overall value. Ice cream brought me a lot of joy so ignoring the cravings for mint chocolate chip seemed like I was making an enormous sacrifice to get fit. After tipping the scales at 225+ not buying ice cream no longer felt like a sacrifice. It felt like I was making the right choice. Holding onto the belief that a little bit of ice cream isn't bad is the hard part, but after a few times it does get easier.

For people with busy lives making the "right" choice can be extremely difficult. When those with full time jobs, kids, night classes, sick relatives, and personal health issues finally have a few minutes of free time, choosing what to do with those precious minutes must be quite challenging. Throwing a Healthy Choice microwaveable dinner in for nuking rather than taking the time to cut up some vegetables and steam some rice can be a no brainer for those constantly on the go. Those 6 quiet minutes on the couch can feel like heaven when life is a riotous mess. Why sacrifice those few moments of peace to stand on already achy feet and work in order to eat something that, according to the manipulated photo on the box, appears very similar and comes ready to prepare? Go read the list of ingredients in a Healthy Choice dinner or a Lean Cuisine, truly discover what you are putting in your body, tell me what those big words mean, and evaluate your decision making process...does cutting up fresh vegetables from a market rather than eating chemically preserved food still seem like a sacrifice?

The same goes for one half hour of sitting on the couch watching television versus one half hour of walking. What will benefit you in the long run? When I was working as a lighting technician on movies and commercials I could justify any amount of time on the couch as "research" for my job. It would be a beautiful day in Oxford with a light breeze blowing on the river, 70 degrees, and I could talk myself out of any kind of exercise in favor of watching all kinds of garbage found on MTV, VH1, or AMC. I didn't feel the need to "sacrifice" my level of comfort to engage in any sort of movement whatsoever because my job was to help make television shows. After a week of lugging heavy cable through the city streets and up narrow staircases a nice 45 minute walk would probably have done wonders for my soon-to-be effed-up back. Instead, I slumped around on the couch holding my body in awkward positions for hours upon end. Foolish thinking, which I truly believe, helped prepare my back for disaster.  

Making the right choices for our minds and bodies must come from a proper perspective. I have spent years and years trying to get mine in order and finally feel like I am starting to get a better grasp of the difference between a sacrifice and a proper choice. Going for a walk rather than sitting on the couch when I don't feel so well will help me in the long run. I wished I had figure this out sooner. I might even be able to paddle faster today had I had a better perspective in my twenties and thirties. Gaining such a perspective comes from getting in tune with your body and mind, doing research to find the best fit for your future goals, then putting practices into motion that will reap positive rewards.

Another example is for years I never wanted to "sacrifice" my own freedom for the alternative - marriage. Again, more foolish thinking! Six weeks into married life and I already feel healthier than I did at any point between 18 and 42. Getting married wasn't any kind of sacrifice; it was the right thing to do. At least it feels that way for now...:)

It is important to note that implementing a good perspective for the decision making process, concerning health and fitness issues, will only come about when the decision is made on the inside to do so. People can tell you what you need to do to live a better life but until you decide for yourself to do so the fight is an uphill battle. I think living a healthy lifestyle is extremely difficult. My wife's family owns a damn bar. Delicious ice-cold beer is free for me. We live across the street from said bar. You want to talk to me about struggling with the difficulty of making right choices!!?? The struggle continues but making the right choices has gotten easier because I decided that being healthy was very important to ME. Until I made that decision I constantly became overwhelmed by the struggle.

What I hope for is that people I know and begin to work with develop proper perspectives when it comes to making healthier choices in their lives. I want to be there to help anyone who wants to take steps toward improving their overall well being. When one sees the true depth of and intent for the word "sacrifice" they may see easier paths down healthier roads when it comes to the decision making process in terms of healthy vs. bad, lazy, and detrimental. Getting the mind right will only benefit the rest of the body because when you really start to evaluate what you decide is best for your body and mind you may come to realize that you really aren't sacrificing anything at all.