Snowmen, hot chocolate, warm slippers, a raging fire in the fireplace — these are just a few of the many wonders of winter. Southern California winters are perfect — we get just enough snow in the mountains to really have good snowboarding but when we get tired of the snow we can just leave. Winter is the season for family holidays, new beginnings and making lifelong memories. When I was growing up, Christmas was my favorite holiday. I knew there would be presents. Lots of them. One of my annual pre-Christmas rituals was carefully going through the Toy's R' Us catalog and marking my selections in ink. Like Ralphie in A Christmas Story, I wanted to make sure my parents got the message.
Now Christmas also can be, for a variety of reasons, a time of stress. One source of stress is the oppression of the shopping list. The longer the list, the greater the anxiety--what shall I get for this niece or that cousin or friend? How do I avoid giving a gift that's too similar to what I gave last year? Bending to the pressure, many of us join the legions of shoppers hunched over and weighted down by bags full of holiday things.
Amidst it all, we lose sight of the meaning of Christmas. We forget why we give gifts in the first place--the story Christians believe about the first Christmas' gift to the world of the Prince of Peace. When He walked on the Earth, He spoke to us of the gifts that really matter:
"For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me." Matthew 25:35This message of giving speaks to what's good in and required of all of us. Giving to another reminds us of our own humanity, of how fragile, vulnerable and fearful we can be ourselves and how loving, generous and caring we can be to another. When you feel your life begin to spiral, when balance is hard to come by, think about a time when someone has given to you unconditionally and do that for another. It could be for a minute, an hour or an afternoon. When you stop to give unconditionally, you may be beautifully surprised to witness the effect it has on you and how quickly your life feels back in balance.
Current weight: 228
Workout
- Squats 5x5 @ 210lbs
- Bench Press 5x5 @ 190lbs
- Dead lifts (Romanian) 5x5 210lbs
- Pull Downs 5x5 @ 160
- Military Press 5x8 @ 110lbs
- Rowing: 45 minutes
- Breakfast: Slimfast optima 200 cal
- Lunch: Slimfast optima 200 cal
- Dinner: Katsu Fish with rice and soup. 800 cal
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