A Rock and a Hard Place

Sometimes life plays hardball with us. We are caught in a situation where we have to choose between two unpleasant options. We know that both will give us displeasure and a lot of difficulty. No matter what choice we make, we know that we cannot escape unhurt in someway or the other. The situation might be personal, social, professional or anything else.

What do we do? How do we choose? 

I wish it was easy. These are times when you will really have to look deep within. You will have to show strength of character and willpower. These are the times when you need to have faith in the ultimate power, the Power of God. Reach within and get in touch with him. Ask him to guide you in making the right choice.

Do whats right. Listen to the voice of God speaking inside you.

Ultimately you will always find that the right choice is the one you always knew, but were hesitating to make. These are God's way of telling us "Look, you have dilly dallied enough. If you won't do it, I will make you choose so that you have no option!" These situations arise because these are things which we should have done long ago but were always putting off for fear of getting hurt, displeasure or hurting someone.

Believe me, I know how difficult this situation can be. I have faced enough such situations in my own life. Many times I made the wrong choice, which eventually led to disastrous results, simply because I did not listen to the voice of God. I did not do what I knew was to be done. Rather I chose to take the easy way out. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

'He' has a plan for all of us. We just need to stay alert for the cues. 

Darkness lights

Darkness is dark. Its black and has no illumination. This is our perception of darkness, right? Wrong! If we look correctly we will notice that darkness has probably given us more light than even the brightest moments of our lives. Confused? 

We have all had our 'dark' and 'bright' moments in our lives. The 'dark' moments simply are those times when you have been defeated, felt despair, failure and been down and out. The 'bright' moments are those when you have excelled, attained success and been on top of the world.

We would all love to have only the bright moments always. However unless we experience darkness, how will we ever appreciate light? To know the intensity of light, we must know what is dark. For example, take money. If we have had ample money all our lives, we will take it for granted. Money loses its value. However if you ever had a phase in your life, wherein money was less, you know how it feels. You will value money more than someone who has always been blessed with financial abundance. 

You will drive more carefully if you have even been in an accident (God forbid).

Furthermore, the dark moments of our lives, teach us much more than the brightest moments. We learn much more from our failures than our successes. We learn from our mistakes. It is the best teacher in the world, though a very costly one. We learn to ride a bike by falling down. Once we have mastered why we keep falling, we quickly adjust and do not fall again.

Same with life. With each defeat and failure, we grow wiser, stronger and more efficient. It is Gods way of testing you and making you stronger. With each blow you receive, you will bounce back with even more ferocity. With each failure you conquer, you will grow as a person. Failure and defeat lights our way to success and growth.

Darkness brings Light!

Whats your Goal

Most of us embark on our fitness route without any goal in mind. Our goals defines the path which we need to take. 

If I ask you whats your fitness goal? What would your answer be? Our number one goal is to lose the pot belly or belly fat! Isn't it?

However this is a very incomplete goal. Do you know that's its impossible to lose just your belly fat? No matter how many crunches you do, it won't magically make the belly fat disappear. To lose belly fat, you must lower your body fat %. Period. 

You need to get your fitness goals straight. Its very important if you want achieve what you desire.

The goals might be one of the following:

• Increase cardiovascular fitness and stamina
  
• Lose weight by lowering body fat %
  
• Lose weight period (at any cost)
  
• Lose weight and increase stamina
  
• Gain muscle mass also known as bulking
  
• Lose fat while preserving muscle mass
  
• Increase flexibility and gain weight and so on

Its important to note that two goals cannot coexist at the same time. You might get moderate gains from chasing two goals at once, but it won't pay off. You will end up disappointed.

For example to lower body fat %, you must burn more calories than you consume. Carbs are to be kept at a minimum and cardio is a must. However if you just want to gain muscle mass, then the opposite must be done. Eat more calories than you burn, carbs should constitute 40% of your diet and cardio is to be kept at minimum.

See what I mean? Trying to lose fat and increase muscle mass at same time are contradictory in nature. You just won't get the results you want! 

Choose a goal, stick with your exercise regime for atleast 3-4 months. Don't expect miracles. You did not put on all that weight overnight right? So how do you expect to lose it overnight? Be realistic.

Success matters

• Would you like to be more successful?
  
• Would you like to achieve targets easily?
  
• Would you like to win most of the time?

One easy way to do all the above is to surround yourself with successful people. Successful people have a different way of approaching problems. They are more focused and are more prone to meeting targets and deadlines. They simply do not like to fail. They do not make excuses or accept excuses for failure. 

They create a positive environment around them and inspire others to give their best. After all, they know that repeated success requires teamwork. They stay motivated and motivate others to be successful. They simply walk and talk differently than less successful people.

The more you surround yourself with successful people, the more chances are that you will start being successful too. Their 'stuff' will eventually start rubbing off on you. Of course you will still have to work hard and smart. You will start delivering results, stay more focused and make less excuses for accepting failure. 

You will simply want to win each and every time!

Cleanse your Soul

When was the last time you cried or really spoke out? When was the last time you let go of all your pained emotions, stress and things which burden you down?

In our day to day lives, a lot of events occur which we are not proud of. Worries and problems weigh us down. We shout at people without meaning to, we hurt our loved ones, we lie to protect ourselves, we even cheat ourselves (diets, smoking etc). No matter how well we deal with these issues and hide them, they are always a part of us, even if subconsciously in our souls.

Which is why its so important to clean your soul every once in a while. Whatever you have done in the past, its important to let go and forgive yourself. Its vital that you 'cleanse' your soul of the burdens weighing you down. Only then will you be able to move ahead in life, stress free. Otherwise these issues will break you down, sooner or later.

Cry out if anything is paining you, speak to a friend or even to God. Confess your blunders and mistakes. Drop your ego for a while. Connect with the universe. Reach out and hug the people you have hurt and say 'Sorry' (When you do, mean it!). Do a good deed.

Clean your soul at least twice a year. Trust me, it will make you feel much better and lighter.