had it been up to me, i would have a few piercings and a few tattoos by now. the only problem with that is one of my parents’ rules was no tattoos or piercings while i was under their roof. i respect them enough to put aside a couple of “wants” if those are their rules. after all, i’d much rather have health care, a cell phone, and a place to sleep when i go home instead of a cartoon car with the number one tattooed on me somewhere.

growing up in a christian home in the south, one of the big arguments against tattoos and piercings is that “your body is a temple. you shouldn’t do things that poke holes or does something that changes that temple from the way god created it.” that reasoning always bugged me. it was coming from the same people who wore a ton of make up, dyed their hair, or did any number of other things to change the way they looked.

i always countered their argument by saying it doesn’t matter what the cosmetic outside looks like as long as the foundational inside was in good shape.

my argument makes sense. in real estate appraisal, we looked to make sure the insides, the guts, of the house were in tact. the color of the walls or shutters wasn’t nearly as important as the foundational insides of the house. if it works for real estate, why can’t it work for my body too?

yeah, it’s a stretch, but it’s the argument i stuck with.

the only problem with that argument is that it was just that – an argument. i never really did much to take care of the insides. yeah, i made sure jesus lived in my heart, but i never took care of my body.

i make jokes about being the fat kid all the time. they’re fun and i love self-depricating humor. i know that i like junk food, soft drinks, and cheap fast food. i probably like them too much. i know they’re not the best things for me but hey, they taste good so i’m going to eat/drink them.

i said it’s the inside that counts, but i didn’t live that.

i had lost a little bit of weight and was eating better towards the end of february and beginning of march. however, once i started traveling for work, everything went out the window. i didn’t buy groceries because i wasn’t going to be home very long. instead, i just ate a bunch of fast food, drank soft drinks all the time, and really didn’t do anything that could be halfway considered healthy. i could feel myself gain the weight back. i could feel myself getting unhealthier. as good as i felt while eating right, i felt equally as bad while eating wrong.

i said it’s the inside that counts, but i didn’t live that.

over the weekend i had this really weird health scare. my heart rate increased a little and my heart was beating very heavily at times, especially when i was laying down trying to sleep. the doctor says that it was because my bronchial and trachial areas were inflamed and swollen a little and that put pressure on the heart. he gave me some medicine to help out with that and thankfully it’s working.

that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a little scary.

gluttony is probably the most overlooked sin of them all. i know that it is for me. i just want this post to be a reminder to all of us, especially me, that we need to take care of ourselves. i’m not saying that we have to have a super strict diet and train for a marathon. what i’m saying is we need to at least pay attention and make an effort to keep ourselves healthy.

i’ve wasted a lot of time with this and put myself in a worse position than most of you reading this. i’ve made excuses over and over and simply taken the easy way out. just like it’s time to stop taking the easy way out and stop making excuses for my other problems and struggles, it’s also time to stop cheating on this issue.

i still believe that it’s the inside that counts.

the only difference is now i’ve got to start acting like it.

say your prayers and take your vitamins.

have a nice day.

-jonathan