Let's get active!

So have you been inspired by the Olympics to get active?! We have! Sadly it is over so quickly but alas, the new academic year is upon us already. So it’s time for those plans that have been on the backburner to be brought forward.

At eximo, we are excited by the prospect of bringing dance and fitness to different areas of Canterbury this September, including Canterbury College, local gyms and our weekly classes. We will also be running a preliminary 6 week dance project in the Barracks this September. The objective is to make this a permanent fixture within the segregated community. A fundraiser will be held on the evening of the 26th October, the last Friday of the project, to raise funds to keep dance in the Barracks! With thanks to Creative Canterbury, who provided the initial funding for the project, we are able to help Canterbury get active in the aftermath of the Olympics!

If the Olympics haven’t convinced you, the Paralympics will be commencing on the 29^th August. I’m certain this will truly demonstrate the lengths that we can achieve despite whatever obstacles stand in our way!

The Olympics 2012!

The Olympics is finally upon us! Who else is excited?

I love the fact that this Country is really getting into the spirit of the games and we are ready to avidly support team GB, who have been vigorously training in the years leading up to this very occasion. These athletes have put their time, sweat and tears into training to achieve Olympian standards. The thought is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time.

There is so much inspiration to be taken from these dedicated athletes! Whilst we might not all be under the same physical demand, we can all be as committed towards reaching our own personal best. Whatever your dream is, don’t let it go because it hasn’t transpired but be inspired to make it happen. An athlete’s whole life is devoted to their sport which affects their foods and pastimes as well. Whilst perhaps we don’t have to be as extreme, are we frugal with our time?

Do you think that these athletes want to get up at 5.30 everyday bar Sunday to train at 7am each morning? But get up they do; the thought of where it will take them striving them on. We must also honour the time and dedication of those involved in building the Olympic venues without which none of the games would even be possible. They made it happen and so can we.

Allow your dream to spark the strength to reach it. It isn’t going to be easy and there will be much toil on the journey there, but just look at what we can do if we put our minds to it! Don’t be daunted, we all have to start somewhere.

 Be inspired and enjoy the games, everyone!

Mr. Valentine

So, yesterday was valentines... Does this day fill people with romantic feelings or dread...? Interestingly, we have been looking into how valentines originated so as to discuss it in eximo classes. St Valentine was actually a Christian martyr and lived under the persecuting reign of Claudius II. St Valentine was secretly helping Christians to get married before God (as this had become forbidden). He was found out and stoned, beaten and thrown in jail. On the 14th February he was beheaded.

This day has now become commercial and fluffy but actually the true meaning is much deeper; recognising sacrificial love and persevering for the faith. I want to celebrate this day for the freedom we have to believe what we do in this country, whether we are Christian or not. We are free to love and believe and to declare our love to those around us (perhaps not everyone we see on the street, but those who we do actually love :P).

For those of you who didn’t have such a great day yesterday, know how much you are loved this Valentine's! Jesus died on the cross, having been battered and bruised, for you because he loves you! That’s what we believe, anyway.

What are your thoughts on Valentine’s Day and what it has become...? Do you enjoy it or avoid it?

No pain, no gain

Have you already lost your temper with that trying individual at work, been having a sneaky cigarette in the small hours of the night when you think nobody is looking or have you completely ransacked the supermarket for all its worth in search of sugary charm when in that weak moment the healthy foods diet you are following suddenly got invaded by the enchanting chocolate charm fairy?

We are in the third week of 2012 now and I’m very aware of how easy it is to slip back into old habits and let all of that good will and positive spirit slither away. At the beginning of the year we swell up with new vigour, life and anticipation to grasp a hold of something new or let go of things not so good but as the rest of the world conforms itself to the daily grind we call life, it is very easy to give up. Whatever your New Year’s resolution is, if you have fallen down at the first hurdle, and thought something along the lines of ‘oh, there’s always next year...’Don’t give up.

Take a look at this video for some inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlXWp6vFdE

We may not complete our resolutions as we had hoped but if we keep getting back up and making our way towards the goal, we will reach the finish line even if it is a lot later on than expected! Use other people in your life to encourage you and to help you along, like this man’s father. Tell them if you are struggling and perhaps they can help battle it with you. Keep positive for 2012 and if you have fallen already, get on back up! It’s never too late!

Happy resolution-ing!

The new you 2012

As it is only the second week of January, the New Year is a big topic within our classes. With this in mind, we will start running a series on “Transformation into a new you” as of next week. Lots of people have a list of New Year’s resolutions, things they want to do or stop doing. On top of the list is often to quit a bad habit such as smoking or drinking too much as well as getting in shape or losing weight. Whatever your New Year’s resolutions are, we hope you will follow them up this year.

However, we would like to take these resolutions a step further and instead of looking at the external of what we want to achieve this year, we would like to look at the internal; the mind, the heart, the soul.

Today in classes we asked the question: Who would you like to be at the end of 2012? This assumes a desire to strive to be a better person or improve our life in one way or another. Leaning on how we, at eximo, know that God can transform our lives, this is a key verse to look inside and start this New Year with a deeper purpose – to become a new you:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

Ask yourself who you would like to be in 12 months when you are about to salute to 2013 with a glass of bubbly. Would you like to be kinder or more loving? Friendlier? Free from pressure to be someone you are not? Less greedy and more generous? Less bitter and more forgiving? This is an indefinite list so why don’t you take a pen and paper and have a look inside yourself and make your list. Don’t stop there! On the other side write practical suggestions of how to achieve these things, e.g. if you want to be more generous, why not give someone in need some financial help this week? It might help putting this list in a place where you can see it every now and again to remind you.

It’s a great thing that every day we are given a new chance to make something of our lives, minds and bodies and it is up to us how we spend our time and energy. God’s grace is new every morning, so we have hope for transformation and don’t have to stay the way we are:

²²It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.

    ²³They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

    ²⁴The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.

    ²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God's word].” Lamentations 3, 22-25