Self-Examination- Part 1
Nurturing the Mind, Body & Spirit:
Last night I attended the weekly Fishers of Men Wednesday night service and to my surprise I was again inspired and motivated by another powerful message by Jimmy Forystek. (http://fishersofmenchurch.org/) God just works like that. He tends to speak to you at just the right moment. There are no coincidences with God! The sermon drove home one simple point; you are the most important person in the world. It’s so true because if you aren’t taking care of yourself then how can you be anything for God, for your family and friends, for your recovery, and for the rest of the world? The simple answer is you can’t! The message went on to talk about self-examination and walking in faith. Of course this got my brain firing on all cylinders and I came up with a wonderful idea for this blog and my recovery. The sermon was based off of II Corinthians 13:5.
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? II Cor. 13:5
At least once per week, if not more, I am going to conduct a self-examination of my mind, body and spirit to determine where I am and what I need to work on. This way I will be able to track my growth and discover the character defects and challenges in my life that I need to either eliminate or cultivate. My hopes are that you will do just the same thing. This is something anyone can do and you don’t have to be in recovery to do a weekly self-examination. It’s almost like a system of checks and balances for yourself because at some point you will be standing before God and only you will have to answer for the choices you made.
When I stand before God I want him to see through all the poor decisions I made and see the dedication and determination I had to preserve through life in an effort to bring glory to his name and kingdom. Yes, I fully acknowledge all the wrong decisions I have made that deceived God, my family, my friends, my girlfriend, and myself but I am fully committed to righting those wrongs and mending those relationships. This blog and journey is a way for me to share my experiences, strengths and hopes with the simple goal of revealing the wonderful healing power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ through straightforward everyday life choices.
Self-Examination Week 1:
Mind:
The mind is such a powerful and dangerous instrument all at the same time. One moment you can be thinking so positive and then something happens and your brain just totally switches into pessimistic mode. Well, I don’t know about you but this happens to me all the time. Though I am trying to work on this everyday and I am trying to counter the negative thoughts with positive ones. This is where self-esteem comes into play and you truly become what you think you are. If I think I am an awesome spirit being who is deeply loved by God then my spirits are high, my activity is intense and my life becomes productive. If I fall into the trap of believing the lies of my depressing thoughts then my world and recovery gets flipped upside down and I inevitably go nowhere. It’s like I am treading water in the middle of the ocean with no shore in sight. This is exactly what unconstructive and irrational thoughts do to you. These harmful thoughts are the self-destructive tool the devil uses to creep into your mind to destroy you. These negative thoughts lead to making poor decisions like running back to the bottle or fleeing deep into the insanity of your eating disorder. Well now, the question is then how do we deflect these harmful thoughts?
I am not an expert or therapist but I can share with you what I am doing and what is currently working for me. Every day I fill my mind with the word of God from the King James Version of the Holy Bible. I try to memorize two power verses per day so that I can rebuke the devil and the self-sabotaging thoughts that come into my mind. Power verses are anything that speaks to you in the moment or a motivating verse that gets you fired up about serving God. Right now, I am currently focusing on verses pertaining to the strength through Christ and verses that pertain to the negative consequences of drinking alcohol. A few examples would be;
Philippians 4:19
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ.
1st John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Proverbs 23:21
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty.
I have found that speaking the word of God has great power which even the devil is no match for. Jesus also when tempted in the wilderness for 40 days quoted scripture to rebuke the devil. There is truly wonder working power in God’s word. I devote a few hours per day to memorizing scripture. My suggestion would be to start with small verses that speak to you and read over them and write them out until you have the verse embedded in your memory. Negative thoughts can creep up on you at anytime and it is awesome to have a weapon to banish these thoughts in a matter of seconds. Again, the devil is no match for the word of God.
My other suggestion would be to fill your mind with positive affirmations and inspirational quotes. I read quotes every morning and coach myself with positive affirmations. You become what you think so if you fill your head with greatness and positivity, then you become transformed by these thoughts and remarkably your day will be enlightened with peace and happiness. I do this each day because in life and recovery, it’s all about living in the moment. Here is a great link on affirmations which can help you to jump start your day on a regular basis; http://www.creativeaffirmations.com/index.html So wake up tomorrow and tell yourself; I can, I can, I can recover and I am, I am, I am an awesome spirit being with magnificent worth as a person!
Here is the weekly self-inventory of my mind and thoughts. This week has really been uplifting and my spirits have been pretty high. I am currently feeling very optimistic about myself and my life. I spoke with my mom on the phone yesterday and she told me how great I sounded. That was a total blessing and made my day. I was also full of jokes yesterday and made my girlfriend Julia laugh all day and she loved how happy and funny I was. Praise God for he is allowing my true personality to shine through adversity. I must be totally honest though and say that there are times when I get down and those self-defeating drinking thoughts do creep in. However, I immediately rebuke them using scripture and they are instantly gone. In the past, I would dwell on these thoughts for days and it would eventually lead to a relapse. Now, I am learning to deflect these voices and thoughts and use them to motivate my recovery. There are also times when I get down about not having a job but I quickly tell myself I am doing everything I can right now and that God is at work in my life. This is also when I use positive affirmations and I verbally tell myself this daily; "Today is filled with opportunity. Everywhere I look I see it, and I trust my intuition to follow where it leads."
So I am actually quite excited about today and what lies ahead for me in the near future. My life is not perfect but I am trusting in Gods great plan and I will go where the Holy Spirit leads me. I was going to make this post on the mind, body, and spirit but apparently I write too much and I don’t want to make this post to long so I will continue with the body, and spirit inventory tomorrow making this a series of 3 separate posts. I will do this each week in the hopes to grow spiritually, mentally and physically. Remember, your thoughts affect the choices you make and these choices will directly affect the course in which your life takes in the future. So let’s think positive and believe that we can overcome and succeed. You are the most important person in the world and God is counting on you!
I would like to leave you with this simple quote to meditate upon today.
"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -J K Rowling
To be continued…..
Live Strong,
Patrick
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Believe and Acheive
Believing in Yourself Daily
This inspiring quote by Jack Canfield really got my heart and mind firing today!
"Self-esteem is a huge piece of my work. You have to believe it's possible and believe in yourself. Because after you've decided what you want, you have to believe it's possible and possible for you, not just for other people. Then you need to seek out models, mentors, and coaches."
I got so pumped up in letting things go and believing in myself. I kicked off the day with a nice healthy breakfast and then went for a nice jog in the sun. Wow, did this feel amazing. When I am out running my mind and spirit feel so alive and free. This is my time to speak to God and to enjoy all of his magnificent creations. You should really think about this and set aside a time and activity where you connect with God and just let it all out-- it’s so powerful and freeing.
I think this quote is perfect for those in recovery or anyone who might be going through a struggling situation in their life right now. It talks about self-esteem, believing in yourself, and seeking out others to help you accomplish and achieve your goals. So let’s first tackle the topic of self-esteem which everyone seems to struggle with including myself.
Self-esteem is defined as a realistic respect for or favorable impression of oneself; self-respect. So it’s basically feeling good about you! If you’re like me, I tend to be my worst enemy and critic. I always seem to be so hard on myself when I make mistakes or don’t accomplish something I set out to do. Okay, this needs to change and if you do this to yourself as well, jump on board and let’s start believing we are truly awesome spirit beings. This reminded of Philippians 4:13 which states; “we can do all things through Christ which strengthen me.” Amen to this and that’s exactly what Jack Canfields quote is saying. We can do all things but we have to believe!
God also puts people and places in our lives to help support and guide us such as mentors, or coaches like the quote states. I have recently added an accountability partner to do a daily bible study and have a workout partner to help train me as well. I don’t know everything and I need to seek the wisdom of others. This is also a good way to build your belief in yourself and to gain courage to face every life choice and situation.
I am now realizing that by believing in “Patrick” and not criticizing myself, I am becoming happier and more confident in life and recovery. If I wake up saying my life stinks and I am a failure, well most likely I am going to be miserable and accomplish nothing. We need to stop feeding ourselves these stupid lies! Instead, I am going to start out each day with positive affirmations to pick myself up. When I do this, I feel so much better and the day just becomes something I look forward too. So let’s start building ourselves up daily and letting our lights shine for the whole world to see.
Here is a short list of affirmations I came up with and use;
• I am an awesome spirit being
• I am deeply loved by God
• There will never be another like me in the history of mankind
• I am a beautiful creation
• I control my attitude today and choose to smile and be happy
• I will live in faith and not fear
• I have gifts, talents and things to offer
• I am an OVERCOMER
These are just a few simple affirmations that motivate me. You can simply google it and find tons of websites that offer more extensive lists of affirmations. You can also make up your own. Be creative and start off the day with a smile and a huge boost of faith. Self-love or self-esteem is one of the key factors in living a happy and healthy life and recovery. If you believe in yourself, life’s difficult choices become easier and you start to make the right decisions because you have a positive mindset. So the message for today is to simply love who you are, and be who you are in this very moment. What people say has no bearing on who you are and what you can accomplish. You are the captain of your own ship so set sail today and be free. Remember, the choices we make today map out what course our lives will take in the coming days so let’s believe we can, and do the next right thing.
God Bless,
Patrick
This inspiring quote by Jack Canfield really got my heart and mind firing today!
"Self-esteem is a huge piece of my work. You have to believe it's possible and believe in yourself. Because after you've decided what you want, you have to believe it's possible and possible for you, not just for other people. Then you need to seek out models, mentors, and coaches."
I got so pumped up in letting things go and believing in myself. I kicked off the day with a nice healthy breakfast and then went for a nice jog in the sun. Wow, did this feel amazing. When I am out running my mind and spirit feel so alive and free. This is my time to speak to God and to enjoy all of his magnificent creations. You should really think about this and set aside a time and activity where you connect with God and just let it all out-- it’s so powerful and freeing.
I think this quote is perfect for those in recovery or anyone who might be going through a struggling situation in their life right now. It talks about self-esteem, believing in yourself, and seeking out others to help you accomplish and achieve your goals. So let’s first tackle the topic of self-esteem which everyone seems to struggle with including myself.
Self-esteem is defined as a realistic respect for or favorable impression of oneself; self-respect. So it’s basically feeling good about you! If you’re like me, I tend to be my worst enemy and critic. I always seem to be so hard on myself when I make mistakes or don’t accomplish something I set out to do. Okay, this needs to change and if you do this to yourself as well, jump on board and let’s start believing we are truly awesome spirit beings. This reminded of Philippians 4:13 which states; “we can do all things through Christ which strengthen me.” Amen to this and that’s exactly what Jack Canfields quote is saying. We can do all things but we have to believe!
God also puts people and places in our lives to help support and guide us such as mentors, or coaches like the quote states. I have recently added an accountability partner to do a daily bible study and have a workout partner to help train me as well. I don’t know everything and I need to seek the wisdom of others. This is also a good way to build your belief in yourself and to gain courage to face every life choice and situation.
I am now realizing that by believing in “Patrick” and not criticizing myself, I am becoming happier and more confident in life and recovery. If I wake up saying my life stinks and I am a failure, well most likely I am going to be miserable and accomplish nothing. We need to stop feeding ourselves these stupid lies! Instead, I am going to start out each day with positive affirmations to pick myself up. When I do this, I feel so much better and the day just becomes something I look forward too. So let’s start building ourselves up daily and letting our lights shine for the whole world to see.
Here is a short list of affirmations I came up with and use;
• I am an awesome spirit being
• I am deeply loved by God
• There will never be another like me in the history of mankind
• I am a beautiful creation
• I control my attitude today and choose to smile and be happy
• I will live in faith and not fear
• I have gifts, talents and things to offer
• I am an OVERCOMER
These are just a few simple affirmations that motivate me. You can simply google it and find tons of websites that offer more extensive lists of affirmations. You can also make up your own. Be creative and start off the day with a smile and a huge boost of faith. Self-love or self-esteem is one of the key factors in living a happy and healthy life and recovery. If you believe in yourself, life’s difficult choices become easier and you start to make the right decisions because you have a positive mindset. So the message for today is to simply love who you are, and be who you are in this very moment. What people say has no bearing on who you are and what you can accomplish. You are the captain of your own ship so set sail today and be free. Remember, the choices we make today map out what course our lives will take in the coming days so let’s believe we can, and do the next right thing.
God Bless,
Patrick
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The Journey to a New Beginning
Welcome to Life’s Healing Choices: The Mind, Body and Spirit.
Hello, my name is Patrick Bergstrom and I am a 27 year old former college lacrosse player and 2005 graduate in recovery from a horrific battle with an eating disorder and substance abuse (alcoholism). My alcohol use started back in high school and really didn’t escalate out of control until more or less after college. My eating disorder developed in the middle of college and spanned over 4 painful years. I have been in treatment for both my eating disorder and for alcoholism. The recovery process from anorexia has been strong and very successful but the alcohol abuse is another story. I seem to slip back every once in awhile but I am seeking a full recovery and bountiful life.
I could bore you with my longwinded life story, experiences, failures, and successes but where I have been really isn’t issue. The mission here is to start fresh on this day, June 30, 2010 by healing the mind, body and spirit through nutrition, healthy living, spirituality and fitness. I will address recovery, relationships and everyday life situations I face both good and bad on this exciting voyage to create and new and healthy life free of self-destruction.
The life we live each day is directly correlated to the daily choices we make. While on my morning jog this morning I had an epiphany realizing that for the ladder part of my life I have been running from every choice imaginable. Even some of life’s simple decisions I have seemed to avoid or flee from. The goal of this website or blog is not to share about my past but to take you through the journey of my life and recovery from this moment forward. There is simply nothing I can do about the choices I made yesterday, last week or even last year. I can’t change them but I can however learn from them, never forget them but forgiving them, and use them to make beneficial decisions in the present and future.
I believe that this quote by Mary Pickford sums it all up;
“If you have made mistakes...there is always another chance for you...you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.”
This is my chance for life, recovery and redemption. I am done running from my life and the everyday choices that occur. I need to tap into the Holy Spirit power and utilize the resources available in my life to strengthen my mind, body, and spirit. (fitness, cooking healthy, nutrition, prayer and meditation) I am fortunate to have a family in the healthy cooking industry and friends in the fitness and nutrition sector so there will also be other professionals sharing their insight on living well. You can look forward to reading my personal experiences, others in recovery, and tips from professionals in various health fields.
I am building a fresh and sturdy foundation through Jesus Christ, and I am done with mundane living. Now is the time for me to live, serve and be free. By worldly principles I would be described as a male anorexic alcoholic athlete but by Jesus Christ my Savior; I am an awesome spirit being! Today I choose to no longer listen or live by these superficial unpractical worldly standards. Again, my name is Patrick and this is my journey to renew my mind, body, and spirit through everyday simple healing life choices. I hope you will join me on this exciting new beginning.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
God Bless,
Patrick Bergstrom
If you feel so compelled to learn more about me and where I have been and plan to go then please feel free to visit my recovery website I Chose To Live at www.ichosetolive.com
Hello, my name is Patrick Bergstrom and I am a 27 year old former college lacrosse player and 2005 graduate in recovery from a horrific battle with an eating disorder and substance abuse (alcoholism). My alcohol use started back in high school and really didn’t escalate out of control until more or less after college. My eating disorder developed in the middle of college and spanned over 4 painful years. I have been in treatment for both my eating disorder and for alcoholism. The recovery process from anorexia has been strong and very successful but the alcohol abuse is another story. I seem to slip back every once in awhile but I am seeking a full recovery and bountiful life.
I could bore you with my longwinded life story, experiences, failures, and successes but where I have been really isn’t issue. The mission here is to start fresh on this day, June 30, 2010 by healing the mind, body and spirit through nutrition, healthy living, spirituality and fitness. I will address recovery, relationships and everyday life situations I face both good and bad on this exciting voyage to create and new and healthy life free of self-destruction.
The life we live each day is directly correlated to the daily choices we make. While on my morning jog this morning I had an epiphany realizing that for the ladder part of my life I have been running from every choice imaginable. Even some of life’s simple decisions I have seemed to avoid or flee from. The goal of this website or blog is not to share about my past but to take you through the journey of my life and recovery from this moment forward. There is simply nothing I can do about the choices I made yesterday, last week or even last year. I can’t change them but I can however learn from them, never forget them but forgiving them, and use them to make beneficial decisions in the present and future.
I believe that this quote by Mary Pickford sums it all up;
“If you have made mistakes...there is always another chance for you...you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.”
This is my chance for life, recovery and redemption. I am done running from my life and the everyday choices that occur. I need to tap into the Holy Spirit power and utilize the resources available in my life to strengthen my mind, body, and spirit. (fitness, cooking healthy, nutrition, prayer and meditation) I am fortunate to have a family in the healthy cooking industry and friends in the fitness and nutrition sector so there will also be other professionals sharing their insight on living well. You can look forward to reading my personal experiences, others in recovery, and tips from professionals in various health fields.
I am building a fresh and sturdy foundation through Jesus Christ, and I am done with mundane living. Now is the time for me to live, serve and be free. By worldly principles I would be described as a male anorexic alcoholic athlete but by Jesus Christ my Savior; I am an awesome spirit being! Today I choose to no longer listen or live by these superficial unpractical worldly standards. Again, my name is Patrick and this is my journey to renew my mind, body, and spirit through everyday simple healing life choices. I hope you will join me on this exciting new beginning.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
God Bless,
Patrick Bergstrom
If you feel so compelled to learn more about me and where I have been and plan to go then please feel free to visit my recovery website I Chose To Live at www.ichosetolive.com
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