"You have a say in who you will become. The actions you decide today will shape your beliefs and way of thinking tomorrow."
The universe is ever changing, although the fundamental laws remain unchanged. So it is with you. Who you are today will not be how you define yourself a year from now. In fact, a year from today you will not even see yourself the same way. But here is a thrilling thought: unlike the universe, you have a say in who you will become. The actions you decide today will shape your beliefs and way of thinking tomorrow.
Adaptation
God has built within all creation the ingenious ability to adapt to changing surroundings. Without this mechanism all life would quickly die. There are countless examples of adaptation in nature. To avoid the deadly heat of sun-baked sand, desert lizards develop longer legs then their cousins. Finches adapt varied shaped beaks suited to the types of seeds and nuts found on their native island. Adaptation makes it possible for animals to live in some of the harshest environments in the world, from the frigid Poles to scorching deserts.
We humans also have the ability to adapt. But unlike animals, we can play an active role in how we develop.
Here are five very different examples of human adaptation
Nicotine Addiction In the beginning, inhaling tobacco smoke can cause nausea to the point of vomiting, but over time, the body learns to adapt to a point where tobacco becomes a vital need to maintain physical and emotional homeostasis. Though the smoker knows in his mind that cigarettes are damaging his health, addiction has been established and quitting becomes very difficult.
Body Building Over time, you can completely change your body structure, gain muscle mass, increase bone density, reduce pain and retain youth through resistance training. As the body adapts to a level of weight, the weight is increased, causing the muscles to grow larger. This process is repeated until the desired degree of strength is attained. The difficult gradually becomes easy, the painful becomes painless, and the impossible becomes possible. As self-confidence increases, discipline grows, and this in turn affects many other areas.
A Diet High In Processed Food Years ago I made friends with a gentle little man who had just come over from Kenya to study. After his arrival he became chronically sick, mystifying doctors until finally someone suggested it could be the extreme change in diet. Once he started eating only the whole, natural foods he was accustomed to consuming back home in the small village of Kenya, he immediately began feeling better. His body had not adapted to the toxins and additives found in our highly prepared foods. It begs the question of how you and I can eat processed foods without the same violent reactions.
Fasting Following my first 30-day juice fast, my sensitivity to toxic foods increased dramatically. Fasting and detoxifying returned my homeostasis back to a normal state, much like the experience of my Kenyan friend.
Desensitization Media has transmuted an entire generation of people, creating a new culture. With the force of simple repetition, vivid imagery and compelling music, daily decisions people make are manipulated, affecting personal value systems, lifestyle, and the way we see ourselves. The frightening aspect about desensitization is that we are unaware of it happening or how far we have been lead away from our inner virtue. It is the hardest of the forms of adaptation to undo, and you will face its power when trying to change diet.
As you can, see there are pros and cons to adaptation. If you are actively involved in the process of change, then adaptation will be of great help, as it is for the body builder, as he strives to reach higher plateaus of potentiality. But if you have fallen victim to addictions, then, until you fight off your addiction, you will live far short of your potential, only dreaming of what you could be.
You can go as far as you want down the path to better health, from small modifications in diet, resulting in a discernable increase in energy, all the way to a revolutionary transformation, resulting in a fresh new you. It will be completely up to how willing you are to eat only foods which enhance well-being. I can provide the tools of understanding and inspirational testimonies of how lives have been changed, but the decision must come from your desire to face the pain of change and receive the prize.
Related Article: Healthy Change Will Be Painful