STEP BACK FROM THE EDGE

      One of the local freeways was  closed for over 12 hrs the other day because some unfortunate individual was standing on an overpass threatening to jump.  Fortunately, he was eventually talked down and I hope he got the help that he needed to get his life back on track.

     As I walked into a local big box store the other day, there was a guy loading his car.  He was probably 50-55 years old, probably 75 lbs. overweight with a huge sagging stomach, smoking a cigarette while he happily loaded bags of chips, beer, sodas, etc. into the back of his car.   I know it's not good to be judgmental.  We all have things that we should be doing better, but I thought to myself, "This guy is doing the same thing as the man on the overpass..........he's just not getting the attention for it."    When you think about it, it's true!  Both actions are preventable, and both will ultimately have the same result.  At some point, this guy's heart, lungs, liver, or other organs will not be able to handle the onslaught of what he's putting in his body.  Combined with the obvious lack of exercise, he's a ticking time bomb.  None of us knows when  we will "buy the farm", that is, when we will die.  We can, however, have some impact on how this card game of life is played.  If you do what these two men did, you are stacking the deck against yourself.  The first man, that is the one on the overpass, had some type of mental breakdown, so he probably wasn't really responsible for his actions.  The second guy, the one in the parking lot, was, apparently mentally sound.  He was, however, doing nearly EVERYTHING he could to stack the deck against himself.

     We're playing the odds here, folks!  If you get yourself down to a reasonable weight, eat the things nature intended for you to eat, avoid sucking carcinogenic smoke into your lungs, and get off your backside for some exercise............you'll still die.           BUT.............you'll probably die later than you would have, and in the mean time, you'll be more useful as a father, mother, husband, wife, brother, sister, son, daughter, member of society...........get the drift?   Step back from the edge of the cliff.  The problem is, you don't know whether you are one step from the edge of the cliff, or a hundred.  If you continue unhealthy behaviors, you are taking steps TOWARD the cliff.  If you start doing the things your body needs, you are stepping BACK from the cliff.  The next step is yours.  Only you can decide which direction you should go.  You can only take one step at a time.  Are you going TOWARD the cliff or AWAY from it?