Becoming Self-Reliant - Physically

The activity that we had for this unit centered around healthy eating and exercising. The Church has great material that encourages us to be self-reliant by taking care of our physical bodies. The areas covered are:

·         The Word of Wisdom and Physical Health

·         Nutrition and Diet

·         Exercise and Fitness

·         Sleep and Rest

·         Managing Personal Health

The areas that I felt that I needed to focus on were nutrition and diet, exercise and fitness, and sleep and rest. I’ve found that as I work full-time, go to school, and still have other outside obligations that oftentimes my schedule can get too crazy and I don’t take the best care of myself. Sometimes the workload causes me to not be prepared to make my family a good meal and we resort to ordering pizza or having take-out just so they can be fed. It is easy to think that I don’t have time to exercise on top of all of that. Then stay up all night to get assignments done by the deadline. I need to make some changes. The site says, “By maintaining good physical health, we become more self-reliant and are better prepared to progress personally, strengthen the family, and serve in the Church and community.” This is my goal!

Elder M. Russell Ballard quotes Benjamin Franklin in his talk, Becoming Self-Reliant – Spiritually and Physically. According to Franklin, “We stand at the crossroads, each minute, each hour, each day, making choices. We choose the thoughts we allow ourselves to think, the passions we allow ourselves to feel, and the actions we allow ourselves to perform. Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we’ve selected to govern our lives. In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way, making the most important choice we will ever make.

Those who believe there is one God who made all things and who governs the world by his Providence will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who hold in reverence that being who gave them life and worship Him through adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe that mankind are all of a family and that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who believe in a future state in which all that is wrong here will be made right will make many choices different from those who do not. Those who subscribe to the morals of Jesus will make many choices different from those who do not.”

I found those words by Franklin so interesting. It’s true, life is about choices. Including what I am going to eat, whether or not I am going to exercise, and when I am going to sleep. What I stuck out the most is the connection that Franklin made to these choices among believers and non-believers. It made me wonder what my choices said about me.