Ed Young - Total Heart Health for Men Workbook

SECTION 1
The Total Heart and the 90-Day Challenge

There can be a new you in 90 days! Thats the aim of the strategies detailed in this workbook. In Total Heart Health for Men, we detailed the meaning and need for Total Heart Health. This workbook will help you understand how to implement your own 90-day plan leading to a Total Heart Health lifestyle.

Meeting this challenge wont just happen automatically. Changing an unhealthy behavior pattern is nothing more than replacing it with a healthy behavior. Some experts in behavior change contend it takes about 21 days to break an existing behavior, 40 days to establish new behavior, and 90 days to transform the new behavior into a lifestyle. While there may be questions about the scientific validity of this idea, many people have found the pattern to be accurate. Getting out of shape physically and spiritually is a process over time, so getting back in shape will take time, too.

Heart disease is a top killer of men. Among the reasons is the fact that many people dont consider the Total Heart when they think of heart health. The assumption is that by caring for one facet of the heartthe physicalthe heart will be healthy. But despite dramatic improvements in treating the physical heart, tens of thousands of people still die annually from heart disease.

That leads us to ask: What is the Total Heart? Understanding the answer to this question is critical. There can be no genuine Total Heart Health unless the entire heart is considered. There cannot be a new you if the totality of your heart is not renewed.

Think about an airplane. It is one structure with several parts carrying out various functions, all making passenger flight possible. Years ago, a huge plane went down off Long Island when fuel vapors were ignited by an electrical short. What happened in one small part of the aircraft affected the entire plane.

So, lets think of your heart as a single structure of two major partsthe spiritual and the physical. The spiritual has two facetsthe spirit and the soul. Again, think about the airplane. The aircraft has a fuselage containing a passenger compartment. At the front of the fuselage is the cockpit, the center of control. So, the soul is like the fuselage. It is that dimension of your inner heart that enables you to think, feel, and choose. At the core of your soul, like the cockpit in the fuselage, is your spirit. Communications and guidance equipment are found in the cockpit, and your spirit is that part of your inner heart capable of communicating with God and receiving His guidance.

Total Heart Health, then, is the vitality of spirit, mind, emotions, and will, as well as physical well-being. Like the happenings in the various parts of an airplane, the spirit, soul, and body all interact with one another, affecting your health for good or for bad.

Meditate on this passage, and jot down your thoughts about what 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is saying.

[Your Response Here]

Total Heart Health is a lifestyle. The 90-Day Challenge presented here is designed to help you embark on lifestyle transformation. So, its important to understand your current lifestyle, as well as the changes that need to be made. Take a few moments to work through the Personal Lifestyle Assessment below, and you will gain new insights into yourself.

I give time each day to personal communion with God, involving worship, prayer, Bible reading, and meditation. (Circle the response that best answers the question.)

Always Sometimes Rarely Never

Ways in which I need to change my values regarding personal communion with God:

[Your Response Here]

I am an active member of a Bible-believing church where I am involved with others in worship, learning, and ministry. (Circle the appropriate response.)

Regularly Occasionally Rarely Never

Ways in which I need to change my values regarding the Church:

[Your Response Here]

My mind dwells consistently on the characteristics listed in Philippians 4:8: those things which are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and of good reputation.

Usually Sometimes Rarely Never

Ways in which I need to change my mental values:

[Your Response Here]

I feed my mind a positive diet through what I read, what I watch on TV, what I see at the movies, and the music to which I listen.

Always Usually Rarely Never

Ways in which I need to change my mental diet:

[Your Response Here]

I generally feel peaceful.

Always Usually Rarely Never

Things I can do to align my professed and actual values, reduce my inner conflict, and gain greater peace: