New Year's Resolutions

I have rarely participated in the yearly ritual of making New Year's resolutions. I suppose one could call me a cynic when it comes to these rituals. My logic simply followed the idea that if we were unable to follow through on the things important to us on a regular basis, then why choose one particular day to try and make that right? Why not just do it?

Well, I am a cynic no longer.....at least when it comes to New Year's resolutions. I have found myself in a circumstance of being unable to control my consumption of food and beverages, nor being committed to exercise of any kind. I am probably the most unhealthy I have been in my entire life. I have always been active, always been relatively skinny, and never had a problem with my health. Well, I had a concern arise this past week. I took a parishioner to, of all places, WalMart to fill his wife's prescriptions because they will fill it for $4 there. While we were waiting in the pharmacy area, I decided to take one of those free blood pressure tests. I hadn't taken my blood pressure in a long time. After my fingers came back to life from being numb and the numbers flashed out on the screen it read 145 over 84. I was horrified. What is worse, one of the pharmacist caught a glimpse afterwards and said, "Whoever's blood pressure that is, man, that is high." Okay, so it could have actually been worse, but she was right, it was high. According to the screen, these numbers suggest stages of full on hypertension and prehypertension. My family has a history of high blood pressure and heart disease, and needless to say this was an alarming wake up call to me.

In our worship service on Sunday we had a covenant renewal service. I spoke of our need to be healthy and connect ourselves and renew ourselves with all of creation. In the middle of my sermon, I took a Diet Dr. Pepper that I bought and placed it in the middle of the sanctuary high up, as if on an altar....an idol of sorts. I spoke of my addiction to Dr. Pepper, my inability to lose its hold on me, and my unhealthy lifestyle of inactivity and lethargy. I threw my Dr. Pepper in a trash can and laid it on the altar as I renewed my covenant with God and my congregation....even with myself to commit to loving myself and my body. So, my New Year's resolution for 2008 is to find a way to eat healthy, exercise weekly, read more, write more, and to make my life overall more whole. For those of you who are my close friends and family, please hold me to this standard and remind me to love myself and my body, for it is God's gift. Happy New Year!