It’s firewood time! No it’s not just  fall or late summer, or even back to school time. It’s firewood time, and there are some life lessons here.

Firewood time is when I, and perhaps anyone else who is brave enough to admit it, scrambles to put up a big pile of firewood to be used for winter warming. This should have been done months ago! LOL.

From left to right Andy, myself and Mike

But every year I get it done just barely in time to let it dry out and season enough to burn well. And then I say “I’ll never wait till the last minute again!” Ha!

I guess that’s the first lesson one can glean from firewood or at least the way I wait till the last minute to get mine ready – procrastination is a part of life. Most of us do our best work when under pressure. I suspect we should cherish pressure. LOL.

That seasoning part is a lesson also. You see, firewood does not burn well unless it’s totally dry. If you cut up a live tree, the wood is full of sap (moisture) and that can take weeks if not months to dry out properly. So we call it seasoned when it’s become dry enough to burn. Hmmmm, I suspect this is a lesson in patience. I wonder what else I should have patience with? Plenty!

And then there is the cutting of the firewood with the chain saw. It helps to sharpen the saw blade first. Every year I start cutting and wonder why these dang logs are so hard to cut! After struggling for hours I finally come to realize that I forgot to sharpen the blade. Duhhh!!! So I then go to the garage, sharpen the blade, and then voila! Sharpening the blade makes all the difference. I guess proper preparation is another lesson here. And better yet, do the preparation first!! LOL.

So then, after the logs are cut, then they need to be split. The splitting is totally necessary because they won’t fit in the wood stove whole, and they dry out faster. Splitting holds another life lesson – don’t go against the grain! Yes, every piece of wood has a grain pattern. You can see the grain quite clearly. Try to split against the grain and you’ve got a battle on your hands. But split along the grain and you succeed easily. Success. Aha! Perhaps we should all strive to look for the grain, the easier way to do something, before we take a whack at anything! It hurts when I take a whack at a log going against the grain. I wonder what pains we could avoid in our lives if we first take the time to look things over before we ……

Work with the grain not against it.

It would normally take me about 2-3 weeks of working a few hours a day to obtain a large enough pile of firewood for my heating needs. But then God blessed me with some special helpers called kids.  My two boys are now old enough to be a tremendous help to me. I cut, Andy splits, and Mike stacks. Now we get the job done in about 1 week. Another lesson – teamwork!

But the best lesson of all will come on a screaming cold winter evening, when the sky is clear and  stars are bright, and the wind is howling from the north.  I’ll realize that all the hard work of cutting, splitting and stacking was worthwhile as I feel the warmth of the fire on my toes.

Warm Toes = Gratefulness

It’s a lesson of gratefulness.

What are you grateful about?

I suspect my dog is grateful too!

By the way, have you seen my other blog sites?

For the general public: http://www.wholehealthhealing.com.

Specifically for doctors: http://www.reclaimthejoy.com

Firewood – Lessons About Life

Exercise. The word has a negative feel to it, don’t you think? I bet the first words that come to mind are pain, work, and no thanks! LOL.

It doesn’t have to! And it won’t once you learn the truth.

Dr Tom Potisk on the Nicolet Wheel-away Bike Marathon

The truth is that most if not all of the exercise gadgets you see advertised, and all the costly routines that are offered, may do some good but are not really necessary and certainly not permanent. Those good looking people in the ads are actors, who nearly starve themselves! LOL.

I’d advise you to not even start any of those unless you start on your own with what I’m about to tell you.

There are really only three reasons why most people are discouraged from starting and then continuing with exercise.

First, many people assume that if there is no pain there is no gain. That is not true! There is plenty of benefit from simply taking a walk, a bike ride, or a light aerobic class. I’ve always been amazed at the improvements in people’s health when they start even the simplest of exercise. They key is to keep it consistent. Get a routine going, even if it’s walking, and you’ll see a drop in blood pressure, more balanced blood sugar, feel more energy, and even become more alert in a short time. And yes, don’t worry, your excess weight will come off later!

Secondly, it’s easy to get bored with the same routines. The key to keeping it up for a lifetime is to have several options to chose from, mix it up regularly, and then make it fun! That’s why I recommend seeking your physical activity outdoors whenever possible because there are more options, and it’s generally more fun. Have you considered snow shoeing, cross country skiing, canoeing, rollerblading, rock climbing, etc? Are you fearful of those choices? I can assure you that you need to be more fearful of the problems that result from inactivity like higher incidences of stroke, heart disease and cancer.You’ve been fearful for the wrong reasons! LOL.

Dr Tom Potisk waterskiing

There are risks with any kind of physical activity/exercise. I wrote a report called The 5 Most Dangerous Exercises You Need to Avoid, and you can get it for free as a download on the right side of this web site. You’ll also find that and many other wonderful tips for optimum health in my book Whole Health Healing – The Budget Friendly Natural Wellness Bible for All Ages. You can order it securely by clicking HERE.

Lastly, what is your real motivation for exercise? I bring this up because most people have the wrong motivation, and that’s why many fail. If you exercise because you want to look better, lose weight, be more attractive to the opposite sex, etc. – these are selfish reasons and they’re not necessarily bad. But there is a much better reason, it’s a concept that I’ve observed never fails, and is the secret to obtaining life-long results – do it for God. Yep, don’t exercise for yourself, do it because you’ve been gifted with a physical body to house your spirit! This is a biblical concept that can be read in 1st Corinthians 6;19,20. It essentially says that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Get your mind around that concept and then optimum care of your body gets a whole lot easier and more of a priority.

And exploring more of the Bible may likely lead to your salvation!I hope so.

So, it’s easy than you’ve thought isn’t it? Sorry for taking away your excuses – but remember I do it because I love you. LOL. When can you start?

By the way, have you seen my other popular blog sites?

-for the general public: http://www.wholehealthhealing.com

-specifically for doctors: http://www.reclaimthejoy.com

Exercise: No Pain, Yes Gain