London Archives - H e a l t h T h o u g h t s

Re-thinking our self imposed limitations

March 26, 2015 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

Man inside a bubble — © GLOW IMAGES (model used for illustrative purposes only)

The first words in my Twitter profile are: “Breaking free of limits!” So, I’m delighted to share this inspiring story from my British Columbian colleague, Anna Bowness-Park. She tells how a shift in her mental approach freed her from fear and pain; and transformed what could have been a disaster into a “spiritual adventure.” Here’s Anna….

Canadian Olympic gold medalist Adam Kreek was not happy. A new member of the team was a better rower than him, consistently beating him at races. Although annoyed, Kreek was also curious. What made this young rower more successful? So, over coffee he asked the question. The response was surprising. “I seek failure,” said his teammate.

Expanding this idea in an entertaining and thoughtful TedX Talk in Victoria in 2013, Kreek went on to explain his teammate’s comment. Imagine yourself with a bubble around you. That bubble is your self-imposed limitations; how you see your abilities and what you believe about your capabilities. Kreek stressed that breaking through that bubble is the first step to understanding our true abilities. It is a vital part of understanding how we unwittingly limit ourselves in every avenue of life, including our health.

What was interesting, was that Kreek’s teammate did not talk about diet, fitness or modern technology as what helped him be a better athlete. He talked of a mental app; if you like, a change of thought about how he sees himself….

This is something I learned in a small way that forever altered how I see life….

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I Was Addicted To Gambling — Here’s How I Overcame It

April 30, 2014 By christianscienceminnesota 1 Comment

My London colleague, Tony Lobl, gives a heartfelt account of how spiritual growth enabled him to gain control over his thoughts and actions. He was permanently cured of the disease called, addiction. Here’s Tony…

When did I cross the line and become “an addict”? Perhaps during my final year at high school. Day after day, I’d play hooky from class to join a covert clan of gamblers playing card games in the seniors’ common room.

It didn’t seem like an addiction at the time — as a good bluffer, I’d regularly turn a healthy profit. But it wasn’t the money that drew me; it was the buzz of pitting my wits against my peers’. However, the fact remained that the writing was on the wall. On days when luck ran out, I’d still carry on until I lost everything, including my bus fare home. Thankfully my father never asked why he had to pick me up.

Despite my lax approach to classes, I got into University. For a few years, an array of extracurricular activities kept the gambler at bay, hidden within. So did a couple of cash-light years following graduation, as I pursued a vain dream to be Britain’s answer to Bob Dylan.

But the desire to gamble remained and quickly resurfaced when I finally got a job at a video production company. Instead of saving my money, I immediately began feeding it to voracious slot machines in London.

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Olympic observations – confidence is key

August 13, 2012 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

As a wrestler in high school, one thing I noticed was that if you had total confidence in a certain move, even if the opponent knew it was coming and tried to stop it, he couldn’t. I knew I could do my favorite moves on anybody – and I did.

Recently I was talking about this phenomenon with a local Minnesota high school wrestling coach who visited our church. He told me how he teaches his team the advantage of the right mental approach to their matches.

He said some kids get it and some don’t. The ones who do often go into “the zone” during a match and become impossible to defeat. They wrestle at a level beyond what they have done to that point and even beyond what the coach believes they’re physically capable of.

As my wife and I have watched the London Olympics, we repeatedly saw athletes shattering their own personal bests. The announcers sometimes described the special mental state of confidence these same competitors strive to cultivate both before and during their events.