Bikinis & Cottage Cheese

by Cassie Byard Women’s Director at Veritas Life Adventures

When I was in the second grade my teacher had our class make our own personalized greeting cards. With my incredibly insightful 7-year-old wisdom, I selected my card’s cover: a magazine advertisement with a picture of Garfield looking disapprovingly at the image of his backside in a full-length mirror. The caption read: “You know it’s time to go on a diet when you start getting dimples in the wrong cheeks.” I had no idea what it meant, but I thought it was brilliant. And then, years later, my 13-year-old, 85-pound self suddenly looked in the mirror and saw that I had dimples in “the wrong cheeks.”

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think a lot of people have a certain idea about what “healthy” people should look like. The truth is, there is no perfect standard for what a healthy person should look like.  There is no perfect standard of what a person “should” look like period.  A friend of mine frequently pokes my stomach to see if my abs are doing any better at revealing their existence (they’re not). She has to poke past a little barrier of squish to find them.  Another friend has poked my belly only to declare, “Your stomach is too hard.”  A woman should be soft, she implies.  So which is it?  Is my tummy too soft or too hard?

Think about it.  If I ask you to imagine a person with a “perfect body,” what image comes to your mind?  I’m going to venture a guess that the person you imagine is young, muscular, toned, maybe tan* and in a swimsuit?  We (or maybe it’s just me) have been trained by society to associate these traits with perfection and health.  But is that reality?

The moment we demand to our bodies, “I should look like that,” or “This area needs some work,” we are giving illegitimate authority to a body-shaming culture that declares itself the legislator of standards.

In my last blog I “confessed” to having love handles and cellulite.  Someone commented that they disagreed with my assessment, as though to quell my presumed low image of self.  But the idea that I might (or should) feel bad about my body because it fails to live up to society’s ideal is the very idea I am trying to counter.  It is okay that I have love handles and cellulite.  Could I “get rid” of these traits?  With lots of VERY dedicated (arguably obsessive) work, possibly.  MAYBE.  But the point I’m trying to make is that if I am pursuing health and not a certain body, then I don’t need to worry about love handles or cellulite.  What my body looks like is not the point of the journey of health.

Am I saying we should throw discipline to the wind and accept whatever happens to our bodies as a result?  Absolutely not.  Nor am I saying it’s bad to have six-pack abs.  But the reality is that most people cannot (and, I could argue, should not) sustain the kind of lifestyle necessary to achieve and maintain society’s idea of a “bikini body.”  Sometimes the pursuit of the “perfect body” distracts from the pursuit of health.

When we invite you on the journey to health with Veritas, we are not talking about pursuing a certain body image.  I have cellulite.  I am not going to work on changing that.  But I am going to strive for physical strength and endurance, nutritional balance, and spiritual and emotional stability.

That is Veritas.  That is truth.  Seek it with us.

*The fact that I (and many others) tend to default to Caucasian imagery is a topic worth addressing.  This book does a great job at it.

The One vs. The Many

The One vs. The Many / The One for The Many

By Grant Boatwright, ED Veritas Life Adventures

The History:

A man stands alone, really little more than a boy, his nation at his back defeated and dismayed. A giant stands before, the epitome of the word in every way, the pride of His nation that is behind him, just waiting to devour and destroy all the man boy holds dear. The man boy, David, stands; equipped with only a small sling, a stone, and a faith he holds which is all that keeps him standing. David stands, one man, courageous and steadfast, the sling spins, the stone flies, and the giant falls. One man, with one act, inspires and saves a nation.

One woman, compelled by the needs and suffering of the less fortunate in the world, armed only with her compassion, faith, and support of others for the tools of her work, takes it upon herself give of her life completely. She utterly pours out of herself to those who need love and the sheer basics of life. Her generosity, charity, and good works singularly elevate the standard of giving and becomes the benchmark name, that all who feel the tug at their soul to give, have at the tip of their tongue: Mother Theresa.

A culture drives itself towards perfection, and in doing so reduces the value of lives seen as imperfect, encouraging the discarding of its undesirable young to level of “infanticide.” One man, brokenhearted but not broken over this tragedy decides to take in all the “unwanted” that he can. He does so through a ‘drop box’ where those who make the decision to give up their unwanted child can anonymously drop the child off; thus retaining their dignity even through a difficult decision. This pastor, Lee Jong-rak, literally saves multitudes of precious infant lives, who have no power to decide for themselves whether or not they are wanted or what they are worth, by his ‘drop-box’ ministry.

One God gives to humanity His only Son. This Son gathers and trains a few, some skilled some unskilled, some upstanding some despised; men that take His teachings and change the course of human history and its future forever. This Son, Jesus Christ, lived and taught the love of the God who created all life and its’ systems, gave his life to the point of public execution without committing a single crime, and raised again so that all would have a way to know and love the God who sent Him.

The result:

Lets face it, our world, our history, our design, and most of our truly inspirational and influential accomplishments are marked by ‘the one’ and not ‘the many’. An entire nation was saved by a harp playing shepherd, thousands were helped and cared for by the compassion of a single nun, multitudes of unwanted babies were saved by one man’s desire to love the unloved, and the way was provided for all of us to have a relationship with our Creator by the sacrificial love of His only Son.

In a world that likes to determine its success by the quantity it affects, provides, and accomplishes it might be prudent to take a step back and look to the quality for a change. It just might be that we find it was the quality of these singular men and woman, or the small group of misfits under Jesus’ tutelage, who decided to make a change around them, which impacted the many. We might realize that it is not just ‘the many’ who can make large transformations. That it could be argued based on the previous and so many other examples, that ‘the one’ or even the few have a far greater, further reaching effect on the communities around them: even the world.

One of the most frequent questions Veritas Life Adventures gets is, “Why do you only take 10 kids a year, shouldn’t you want to affect as many as you can, at least more than 10?” To which my answer is, “Of course we want to affect more, which is why we only take 10.” Because we understand from these past examples, if we gain 10 youth who have a drive and potential to be the leaders of tomorrow and take the in-depth time and effort to equip them with the tools and opportunity to do so; then they will be the names our future generations will read about, aspire to, and learn from on how they impacted humanity.

Do we not desire and see the positive effects of smaller teacher to student ratios in our public schools?

Have you ever been shocked by the change you saw when you were instructed by a personal trainer compared to doing large class workouts?

This is why we know that keeping our goal of training ten Seekers a year in the program will have a far better outcome. That from these ten Seekers, tens of thousands they later lead will be motivated to change and grow, just as they were through the program.

Because they are ‘a’ soul, a potential great soul, created in the image of God, both fearfully and wondrously made. Made for a purpose, be it great or small, yet to be fulfilled.

So you tell me which is greater, ‘the one’ or ‘the many’? …

Or maybe, just maybe, we should start seeing it as ‘the one’ for the flourishing of ‘the many’!

Why Looking Up Will Change Your Life

By David Valentine, co-founder of Rethink and partner/practitioner of the Veritas Lifestyle and Veritas Life Adventures

I've got a stress problem. You probably wouldn't know it talking with me. On the surface I am calm, whimsical, and light. It's at the depths of my being anxiety lurks. The place which dictates my mental, emotional, and physical health.

At this point you're probably thinking, "Dude...go workout."

Yes,

absolutely,

I've tried that and it only works in degrees. The entire workout I'm focusing on those situations which are stressful. I exhaust my body, yet my mind continues to churn.

A few months back when my stress level was at an all time peak I took my two dogs for a long run. Like most people I look straight ahead while running outside, because it's the best way not to become a spectacle to passersby.

On this day though I did something absolutely revolutionary

I looked up.

The blue Texas sky reaching from horizon to horizon, the tree branches illuminated by the mid day sun, and the birds which flew by with effortless strokes captured my every thought.

I took a deep breath to remind myself I was alive.

When I looked up to the infinite sky I was reminded of a fundamental truth.

There is more than this.

I am not alone. God is here, and

He

is

good.

There's a verse from Paul's letter to the church in Colossae where he states, "...in Jesus all things hold together."

The cosmos is held together by a God who is good.

My anxiety slowly began to melt away as I marveled at my smallness.

The exercise wasn't relieving my stress, my perspective on life, reality, and truth eased the pressure.

Just then I tripped over my dogs and almost face planted into the concrete. In my attempt to not face plant, I lunged into a pole for a sign reminding patrons of the park to keep their dogs on a leash (you can't make this stuff up). Luckily I held onto the leashes of both dogs. I also avoided anyone seeing me crash, and there was no evidence that I nearly killed myself.

If you happen to be driving through the North Arlington area you may see me running my two dogs looking up towards the sky. Reminding myself, that I am small and God is holding it all together.

Oh and if you see me knocked out next to a sign please assist me.

"Hi. I'm Cassie, and I'm addicted to sugar."

by Cassie Byard

Women's Director at Veritas Life Adventures

  Sometimes when I tell people what I do for a living, I wonder if they mentally look me up and down and think, Seriously? You teach kids holistic health? But... I’ve seen you eat pizza. And didn’t you say you’ve struggled with depression? Also, you have more than 15% body fat. And love handles. And I can see your cellulite through your jeans.

Let me be clear: I’m not saying I think I’m fat. I’m actually quite happy with my body, but I recognize that I may not fit the bill for some people’s idea of a holistic health advocate. I’m not trying to make a point about whether or not I physically look the part (that’s for my next blog :)). What I’m trying to say is that it doesn’t take long to look at me and see that I have not “arrived.”

I am not the perfect model of health. Not because I have love handles and like pizza, but because there’s no such thing as the perfect “model of health.” Health is a not a final destination that can be quantified and then attained, especially if your measuring stick for success is acquiring a specific body type. When I talk about health, I’m talking about treating body, soul, and mind with care and respect. And let’s face it: I do not always make choices that respect my body, soul and mind.

Like the rest of us, I am on a journey. Every day I am faced with choices to respect myself or to stumble and try again tomorrow. Some of these choices are easy for me. I could even say I’m good at making some self-respecting choices consistently. But I also have lots of areas of struggle, and always will, because I am on a journey that doesn’t have a final point of arrival.

This isn’t to say we can’t have goals along the way. Maybe you’re determined to finally run that 5k or that marathon, so you make specific body-challenging choices for a season. Maybe you’re like me and want to break that sugar-happy habit, and certain boundaries and accountabilities need to be established for your body's benefit. Perhaps your stress levels are through the roof and it’s time to prioritize some serious rest and revitalization. Maybe that Netflix account is sucking away life and creativity, and your mouse or remote needs to be decommissioned for a while. Whatever it is you want to accomplish, go for it and be proud in both the process and attainment of your goals! But please don’t think it means the journey is complete.

We do not make this journey in order to “arrive” somewhere, or in order to attain “perfection.” We push on because as we learn to respect and love our bodies, souls and minds, we find ourselves fuller, healthier and better able to love and respect other people, too.  Sometimes it's rough and sometimes it's smooth sailing, but always it is a journey that urges us to move, invites us to keep on keepin' on, and promises reward and fulfilment simply through participation.

I have not arrived, for there is no arrival; the journey is the destination. But it's a worthwhile journey, and I invite you to join me on it!

What is the Veritas Life?

By David Valentine, co-founder of Rethink and partner/practitioner of the Veritas Lifestyle and Veritas Life Adventures

What does it look like to live completely in tune with our created nature? We are wired to live a certain type of life. Call it evolution or divine creation, our bodies, minds, and spirits seem to thrive under very specific parameters.

What is the Veritas Life though?

For a simple man, like myself, I find definitions very helpful. Veritas is of course a latin word, and translated veritas means truth. So what is the ‘truth’life, or the truth of life?

Integrated Beings

You are a brilliantly integrated being, made of dust and spirit. You cannot be separated from your body, and you cannot your body from your spirit. It’s common for people to see the various parts of who they are as individual from the other, but the reality is you are an integrated being. If you have emotional baggage that you haven’t worked through, it will manifest itself in your physicality. If you have poor eating habits it will actually affect your emotions.

Central to the Veritas Life is living with the innate awareness that all of you is longing to be healthy. Every part of your being longs to be in sync with it’s creation. Which means we can’t treat our bodies have to be treated like sports cars, and our souls have to be given the right arenas to breathe.

Death, To New Life

If you’ve spent any time with Grant Boatwright you know he lives and breathes Veritas. He’s passionate about seeing everyone everywhere live more full lives. Most people don’t know that he gets up at 3am every Tuesday to work at Starbucks so that Veritas can go where he believes it will. Every Tuesday he dies to himself, so that his wife, friends, family, and Veritas Seekers can live.

Veritas living requires sacrificing some of our time in order to live out what we want to do in the others. It also means living with a keen awareness that what we do affects everyone around us. We don’t just sacrifice for our own good, but for the good of others.

Pursuit Of Truth

There is a beautiful quote from Jesus where he says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”The quote is in reference to his teachings, and the difference they offer compared to the other religious attitudes of his day. There is something truth does to our souls that is unlike anything else. It unlocks deep seated realities that are begging to burst forth from our chests. It’s equally as important to seek truth. Whether it’s in a counselor’s office, amongst friends, or in a religious gathering it’s vital for us to pursue what is true.

The Veritas life is a brilliantly beautiful one. It is a life where all of you is present and integrated. It is a life bent on dying, so that you may truly live. And it is a life built on the pursuit of ultimate reality. When we live in these ways, we discover that we can be more alive than we ever believed possible.