Refresh Your Commitment Daily

Your goal is to be as healthy as possible for the rest of your life. To integrate this goal into your life fully, your mind must be committed to it at every level. Otherwise, you run the risk of having it fade away as soon as you meet any kind of obstacle – and obstacles happen to all of us. That’s why New Year’s resolutions often fade and lose their power as the days and weeks go by.

Because of this ‘fading away’ tendency, the first secret of exceptional health is to get your mind deeply committed to your own health. If you enroll your mind as your partner and keep it centered on your health goal, you will have a strong ally. Your mind is powerful if you know how to harness its strength.

How do you do this? Devote five minutes every morning to give your mind positive guidance for the day ahead. This is the single most important thing you can do to begin building a healthy mind and body.

Your mind may object, saying, “No way. There are dozens of more important things to do.” This is a test. If you give in to the mind’s objections, you lose control. The reality is that anyone can take five minutes a day for a worthwhile goal. Most people spend more time on things such as television or computer games.

So, find a quiet spot to sit where you won’t be disturbed. Your mind may throw another monkey wrench into your project now. Like a monkey, it begins to jump from one thought to another, and then another, and then another. This is your second test. How do you tame the monkey mind?

The best way is to focus on your breath and to mentally repeat a simple affirmation as you follow your breath in and out. I suggest that you begin by using the affirmation, “I am Peace.” As you inhale, say in your mind, “I am…” and as you exhale, add, “Peace.”

This accomplishes two things. It gives your mind something to focus on as it begins to quiet down. Secondly, as you spend a few minutes quietly repeating this affirmation, you begin to feel peace within yourself. It is too simplistic to think that if you affirm a quality like peace, you become one with it. Yet, at some level you have the potential to be at one with peace. The more you identify with any quality, the more you become like it. The surprising truth is that your affirmation can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Several other affirmations are worth using. Qualities of love, joy, peace, hope, and kindness are all valuable, life-enriching qualities. Each can be substituted for the word Peace. You can say, “I am Love,” or “I am Joy,” or “I am Hope,” or “I am Kindness,” for your affirmation of the day. All of these qualities enhance health. The important thing is to take five minutes to focus your mind on one of them.

As you gain experience with this simple exercise and begin to realize its benefits, you may want to spend more time doing it. For example, you may find it helpful to do this before going to bed every night. Repeating affirmations before going to sleep is a powerful way to embed them deeply in one’s mind. I conclude these times by breathing the phrase, “Thank you, God” a few times. In doing this, I recognize God as the source of my health in every way, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

In making these affirmations each day, I automatically refresh my commitment to health. God designed us to be healthy. By aligning myself with God daily as my source, I commit myself to my own health in a powerful way. That’s why refreshing one’s commitment daily is the first secret of exceptional health!