What most people consider a sacrifice can be the best investment you may ever make in your life.
Years ago, when his children were young, one of his daughters came in from getting the mail and she said, “Dad, we’re rich aren’t we?” Dr. Weston told her, rather sheepishly, that they were definitely not rich. She said again, “Yes we are, we’re rich.” He corrected her more strongly, “No we are not. What would make you think we’re rich?” She then held out the mail she had retrieved and showed him two boxes of blank checks his wife had ordered from the bank. “See, we’re rich.” He then had to explain to her how checks and banking actually work.
Writing a check without sufficient funds to cover it is not only foolish, it’s a crime. Today everything from governments to businesses to individuals live beyond their means. They purchase things with credit cards and credit lines; in other words, they obligate money they haven’t even made yet. They actually mortgage their future.
Everyone is constantly looking for the best investment, the sure thing. How do you take the gamble out of it all? There are plenty of self-proclaimed financial experts out there wanting your business, stockbrokers who will invest your money until it’s gone. The designation “broker” kind of says it all for Dr Weston. He even once saw a guy standing at an intersection with a cardboard sign that said, “Will manage your money for food.” Doesn’t really inspire confidence, does it? The experts always give the advice to buy low and sell high, which sounds so simple, but it’s much more complex than that.
So where can you get the best return on investment or ROI? The statement of self-development author and speaker, Bryant McGill, says it best, “Your health is a long term investment that will pay-off when you need it the most. Make your body your prized possession above all physical things. Spare no expense, reprioritize, and invest in your health.”
Invest in a sensible weight.
Realize that if you eat the way you’ve always eaten, you will weigh what you’ve always weighed, and that a proper diet doesn’t have an end, it has no expiration date, it’s for life. I’ve heard it said that being overweight is hard, that losing weight is hard, that maintaining weight is hard; so choose your hard and run with it.
Invest in action.
Look at your body. Those muscles are meant to contract, joints are meant to move, your heart is made to pump, lungs are made to breathe, and pores are designed to sweat. Get the message? Let your body do what it was made to do.
Invest in education.
Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” It is a lifetime pursuit.
Invest in de-stressing.
Stress is our health’s greatest enemy. Meditate, serve, walk, breathe, laugh, and don’t worry about what you can’t control.
Noted religious leader Gordon B. Hinckley wisely said, “You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment you will ever make.” Make those sacrifices today and invest in your health, in your fitness, in yourself. That matters more than money ever will.
