Fitness is first a battle for the mind …

To develop a lifestyle that fosters and maintains a standard of physical fitness, you first have to win the battle for your mind.

Whether we want to be fit, and whether we’re willing to do what is necessary to become and remain fit, depends on the internal decisions we make that foster our emotions and direct our actions.

That means to become and remain fit, we have to overcome the temptations to make our nutrition about our emotions or to be centered primarily on pleasure; and it means exercising enough self-discipline over desires and temptations to get off the couch and be active.

Gerhard Groote, in his book, “The Imitation of Christ,” touches on this issue of overcoming temptations …

Door chains. They give the appearance of security, but do they really help? Experts will tell you that door chains cannot be tampered with from the outside, but once the door is opened, the chain will do little to deter entry from a determined intruder. The best one can say is that they “provide some measure of evidence of forced entry” after the fact.

In other words, use the chain when your only goal is to keep a wandering child or elderly loved one from getting out, but forget about it if your goal is security.

Like a hostile intruder, temptation is best kept at bay if we never open the door to it. Thomas à Kempis said it this way:

“We will do better in dealing with temptations if we keep an eye on them in the very beginning. Temptations are more easily overcome if they are never allowed to enter our minds. Meet them at the door as soon as they knock, and do not let them in. One simple thought can enter the mind and start the process.

“The process works like this. First, the thought is allowed to enter into our minds. Second, the imagination is sparked by the thought. Third, we feel a sense of pleasure at the fantasy, and we entertain it. Fourth and finally, we engage in the evil action, assenting to its urges. This is how, little by little, temptations gain entrance and overcome us if they are not resisted at the beginning at the door!. The longer we let them overcome us, the weaker we become, and the stronger the enemy against us.”

Too many of us have opened that door …

Too many of us have played in our minds justifications that life is short, eat the cake, instead of being honest with ourselves that eating too much cake shortens lives. Too many of us have told ourselves we’re too tired to go workout instead of telling ourselves we’ll develop the energy for living by putting in the workouts.

Simply put, the state of your physical fitness is first a battle for your mind. What are you telling yourself about your current fitness level and fitness needs?

Scotty