I am at what I hope is the midpoint of my life at 50 years old. My great grandma Horton made it to 102 and my plan is to surpass her. My family competes at literally everything, and we are always looking to try and beat each other at something. Heck, my grandfather didn’t have a cavity until he was 65 and I am on track to catch him as long as I keep these choppers healthy! 

I have spent time with my elders and learned a lot from them. I am also in the middle of raising two teenage boys and looking back on their younger years I see a glaring similarity between young children and senior citizens. They don’t really have a filter when it comes to things they say. If it’s on their mind, it’s coming out and there is no stopping them. 

Kids are just very honest and probably don’t know any better. Every parent has been embarrassed in public by their kids pointing at some random person and commenting on their face. Senior citizens tend to be a little more impatient and quite frankly don’t want to deal with your nonsense. You know what I’m talking about and it’s ok to laugh! Especially if you are an old fart like my mentors Mike Stanley or Bill Crawford! Both age groups simply tell it like it is and we aren’t changing that anytime soon.

Watching What You Consume

As a former professional athlete, I was very careful about what I put into my body, and it continues today. My wife makes fun of me because I won’t eat sweets after a certain hour, and I have been known to grab a bag of spinach and eat it on the couch while watching a ball game on TV. Sometimes she will have a bowl of ice cream late at night and ask me to join her. I jokingly say, “leave me alone Eve!” and she just rolls her eyes and walks away. If messing with your wife was an Olympic sport, I would easily surpass Michael Phelps in gold medals. Thank the Lord for my wife’s patience and grace.

In addition to watching what I eat I am also an avid weightlifter and as the bible states that your body is a temple, I treat it that way. However, years ago I started to think about other ways we consume things and it’s not just through our mouth. The food we eat will be eliminated hours later, but what about the things we listen to and watch? We consume through our eyes and ears and the things we listen to and watch have an effect that can last much longer.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV

Making a Change

Back in the early 2000’s I attended a Fellowship of Christian Athletes Breakfast during the Fiesta Bowl. Former NFL wide receiver Frank Sanders was the keynote speaker, and it was a powerful message about making life changes. I spent some time with him after the event, and he encouraged me to change the music I was listening to and switch over to Christian artists. I wasn’t prepared to do that, but a few years later in 2005 I did it and also changed what I was watching on TV and the movies I went to. I needed to stop feeding myself with toxic messages that was impacting me more than I knew.

I took a hard look in the mirror and told myself “If you are so diligent in certain parts of your life, why can’t you do it in everything?”. It became a self-imposed challenge at first, but in time the transition became easy. The Christian music had a similar sound to what I listened to before, but the messages were so much more positive. The same went for what I was now watching. Now PG-13 movies were enough for me and all that violent stuff I watched in the past no longer interested me. 

Taking the Next Step

I encourage all of you to take an introspective look at yourself and ask hard questions. How can you make improvements, so you can be a better man for those closest to you? How will you improve your filter?! We are called to be leaders so embrace that mantle and make difficult changes! Some changes feel like they will be impossible, and others are ones you don’t want to make, but deep down you know you should. Your past does not define you. Make wise decisions today and believe in life change. It will bless you and everyone around you. 

If you don’t go to a church, I encourage you to find one. Surround yourself with positive people. I was baptized on August 21, 2005, in Lake Campbell at a church picnic in Kalamazoo, MI. Deciding to get baptized was a life decision and the best one I have ever made. I realized that I needed to walk away from the things I did in the past and do my best to emulate Jesus in my daily walk. If you have not been baptized, I encourage you to speak to someone about it. 

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