"Give Yourself A Gift"

Good morning everyone, I love the fact that we are all moving on the same path toward an end with rewards. I'm going somewhere with this. Promise. Do you like gifts? I do! If you have ever taken the love language test, you know to what I am referring. My two highest scores fall between gifts and acts of service. Side note: if you have never read the Five Love Language book, I strongly suggest you do sooner than later. Once I discovered the ways people give and receive love, it certainly opened my eyes in MANY areas. Again - this works across the board. And what's really cool is that God is all five and never struggles to love each of us in our specific love language. Anyway, I don't know any one of us who doesn't like gifts, but especially those that have been well planned and thought through. Can't you tell the birthday or Christmas gifts that were re-gifted? You smile and act cordial, but inside aren't you wondering which aunt the gift came from? YIKES! What gifts are ahead of us as we walk the path toward great health? Initially - more energy and a renewed sense of LIFE. Then we find confidence, often followed by change of size and weight which culminates in GREAT blood reports and longer life. These are all amazing gifts to me! Are these gifts unique? Nope! They seem to be what we all receive once we decide to terminate the longings of our flesh for unhealthy items. Bringing my fleshly appetites into a surrendered place is certainly not easy. But the way I feel after a successful encounter is a precious gift to me. Remember when we spoke a couple of weeks ago about exercise? Have you ever had a great workout and been bummed and commented, "I really wish I had never done that." I doubt it. I feel the same way about experiences of success with healthy choices. I don't recall a time when at the end of successful experience - I wish I had failed. That is like giving me a gift. Perhaps because I am also an acts of service girl, the feel of victory over an area of devastation is such a blessing. I failed so much of my life at being healthy that being able to succeed is more than simply winning. It's a gift I give myself. The nice thing about giving one's self a gift is that one's self usually selects the perfect gift (if the funds allow). Giving yourself a gift can be done in so many ways, but for me, in a life of failure, successful healthy choices is a precious gift. I hope you can follow my line of thinking this morning and allow this day of healthy choices to be a GIFT to you! PK