“What we think, we become.”
I had the honor of speaking at a Ladies Day event hosted by the Bridgewater Church of Christ (Garretson Rd). The theme of the day was “Do You Know Who I Am?” and my talk was titled “Happy, Healthy and Free.” This topic matters deeply to me because I care about health and fitness for the whole person — mind, body, soul, and spirit.
My starting point was the Bible verse Luke 2:52:
Jesus grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
That verse summarizes Jesus’ growth from age 12 to the start of his ministry at 30. It tells us he developed mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially. I suggested that we, too, should pursue growth in these areas to become well-rounded people. Too often, however, we end up sick, stressed, and depressed instead of happy, healthy, and free. I have experienced those struggles myself at different times and shared practical insights about the mind-body connection and how our bodies respond to stress.
Focusing on our health is not self-indulgent; it enables us to be more pleasing and useful to God. Our thoughts shape who we become, and our habits form our character and destiny. From my own experience I developed Ten Healthy Habits for the Well-Rounded Person:
- Eat
- Move
- Sleep
- Play
- Learn
- Focus
- Avoid
- Retreat
- Pray
- Love
During the presentation I expanded on each habit, but time was limited. The strong positive response encouraged me to plan a series that explores each habit in greater depth. Many attendees shared their own stories of feeling sick, stressed, or depressed, which reinforced how important it is to continue this conversation and offer practical guidance.
Several people asked for copies of the presentation, so I have made the files available below in two parts due to file size. These are PDFs of the slides without presenter notes. I will also publish posts that dive deeper into each Healthy Habit. If you follow the blog, you will see those future posts as they are published.
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Part 1 — Happy, Healthy and Free (PDF)
Part 2 — Happy, Healthy and Free (PDF)