Outside the margins…ouch!

What happens when you take a deadline, mix it with a few emails, add a dash of day-timer, stir in some unanticipated delay, and garnish with family commitments? Quite possibly a recipe for overload.

But that is life. There is always stuff. Coming at us from different places. How do we cope?

Margins. We need to build margins into our lives. If will fill our pages to the edge with the obligations, responsibilities and interests, we have no capacity for the unexpected and the unplanned.

Jesus maintained margins in his life by seeking solitude, by praying to his Father (see Lk 5:16). He did this before he became overloaded.

Margins represent the reserve capacity we build into our lives…before the unexpected, the crisis and the delay. Doesn’t work if we try to do it afterwards.

Good news for popcorn lovers!

I hate popcorn, well I usually hate it, I mean I am not tempted to eat it much, unless of course you season it with M&M’s and then…well then pass the bowl and don’t expect to get it back until all that is left are the hapless and pop-less kernels that litter the bottom!

You may question my choice of snack, but a recent study has emboldened me to stay the course. Said study discovered that,

Adults living with children eat more saturated fat than those not living with children, and the extra fat adds up to the equivalent of a frozen pepperoni pizza a week, …

That’s not good. Nor is giving up the kids! So what can a dad do? The same report made some helpful suggestions:

• healthy eating is a family affair, don’t focus just on the kids
• choose popcorn or low salt pretzels instead of high-fat potato chips (I am sure they just forgot to mention the M&M’s)
• if children are two or older, use a lower fat milk
• try baking or cooking in olive oil
• limit fast food and pizza to once a week

We are more stressed than most!

Ipsos poll reports that only South Korea and Australia are more stressed than Canadians. It seems that the biggest source of stress in our lives is work, followed by finances, health and family concerns.

I know that I am not immune to stress, in fact I can’t imagine life without it. The key question is what do I do with it. Withdraw? Rant? Pout? Not particularly good choices!

Recalling that God still is in control even though my world seems out of control is a key step to dealing with stress. Praying instead of whining is a next good step.

So the next time my agenda exceeds my capacity, or the confluence of my kid’s schedules sweeps me off my feet I will…most likely mutter, grit my teeth and then…just maybe…see stress as a reminder that I need God.

Silencing the Screen Sirens

The other day I am checking my team on Yahoo’s Fantasy Hockey when I am ambushed by a Victoria’s Secret “screen siren”. If you surf the web you know what I mean, opportunities to be enticed literally pop-up.

It is not just the Internet. The media and the marketplace are full of the sensuous. At times we feel tempted at every turn of the channel, the page, or the head to steal sexual gratification from forbidden places.

The authors of Everyman’s Battle suggest the following strategy in battling for sexuality purity:

1. Train your eyes to look away from images/people that tempt us to lust.
2. Submit your thinking, your daydreaming, your attractions to the rule of Christ.
3. Strengthen your heart’s allegiance to your wife by cherishing her.

To be sure, these three steps don’t say everything that needs to be said. What would you add?

There is still hope for a healthier future

This is a bad news/good news post. The bad news is something you probable already guessed. Elevated body weight, blood pressure, sugar and fat levels in the blood are some of the mid-life risk factors identified in a recent study.

The good news is that making changes later in life can still have a positive effect.

To read more open this PDF File by clicking on the highlighted text below.

Men Who Stay Trim

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