Proverbs 17:22 (NLT)
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.
The dramatic conclusion…
…We pounced, circling our helpless victim, knives and spears drawn over our heads, appearing like Piggy and the boys from Lord of the Flies. (If you’ve never read it, read it before your next camping trip). Maybe we would kill the mysterious creature, then roast his meaty carcass on the fire pit, and impale its grotesque head at the edge of the campsite to discourage any and all trespassers, let them know that we were real mountain men, hunters, trackers, killers…hear us roar!
The roar of our instinctive survival surrendered to the whimper of disappointment. We stood stark still, the mad rush of adrenaline wilting, once again frozen, this time in disbelief. There, laying amidst the grass and pebbles of the sandbar was an alligator gar…a DEAD alligator gar. It was so dead in fact, that it had been dead a while. I will not get graphic in my description, but I will say that the level of its decay gave one the impression that it had been deceased for weeks.
Confusion rippled through the group.
“Huh?”
“What do you know? Already dead.”
“Do you know what this means?”
“Yeah, that means that something else is lurking out here.”
“No way!”
“So you think this thing ran through the woods, died, and wasted away, all before we got down here.”
“No, but…”
“Guys, guys! Quit fighting! I hear something, something is out there, I can sense it.”
It was at this most opportune time that I removed a stone from my pocket and stealthily lobbed it down the creek. As soon as the rock penetrated the calm waters, the boys spun on their heels, already cognizant that the blurry movement had been a setup for an elaborate ambush. With a fluidly erratic motion, they all sprang off the sandbar and scurried back up the bluff, slipping and sliding all long the way. Not until they crested the sheer of the bluff did they realize my absence. I remained on the sandbar, rolling through the grass, laughing so profusely and with such ferocity that tears poured from my eyes. And maybe I was the one seeing things by then, for I thought that the alligator gar was chuckling as well.
Application: Laugh at yourself. Quit taking everything so seriously. Learn to laugh…and to live.
Nutrition Tip: Pack your lunch. Not only do you save money by bringing your lunch to work or school, you save a nutritional guilt trip later. When most of us eat out, we tend to engorge ourselves on high calorie, high fat, synthetic foods rather than a healthy dose of a turkey sandwich, an apple, and a handful of almonds. Food for thought (pun intended).
Exercise Tip: Find an accountability/workout partner. Much like you need encouragement and direction in your spiritual walk, you need it when it comes to fitness as well. If possible, work out with a partner. You can push one another to new height with a little friendly competition. No partner? Find someone to be accountable to. Text, call, or talk to them about being consistent and helping you do the same.
