Beyond the Flesh: Live a Life that Echoes Eternity

Prologue

Each year on my birthday, I devise an intense workout to both celebrate the day and to set the tone for the year ahead. Throughout the years, I've faced some tough challenges on my birthday, pushing myself to the extreme.

This year was no different, only this year I wanted to push myself mentally like never before. Engaging in intense workouts requires significant mental effort—there's no avoiding it. Yet, after over 15 years of rigorous training, I've become adept at enduring the physical demands. In a sense, you start to thrive on it.

This year, I aimed to remove the physical aspect and place all the pressure on my mind, challenging my mental focus like never before.

Insert the 60-minute horse stance.

The horse stance is a position that has been used for thousands of years across a wide range of cultures and disciplines - from monks to martial arts. There are many ways to do it with varying depths. The horse stance itself isn't what's important about this workout. It's the 1 hour of uninterrupted time within my mind.

I have never been able to meditate. Although I have always heard about its benefits and wished I could practice it, I could never sit still for more than 5 minutes. Even when I managed to sit still, it was usually because I was starting to fall asleep.

I believed that to challenge my mind and push it to its limits, I needed to spend a prolonged period with it—without any interruptions, distractions, or movement.

I would go outside away from people and distractions, get in position, and hold....for 60 minutes - ZERO movement.

And that's precisely what I did.

Let me tell you, it was brutal.

But it was also profound.

Throughout my 33 years of life, I can truthfully say that I've never dedicated an hour solely to my thoughts without any distractions or activities engaging my mental energy. Spending this much time alone with your mind can be quite the trip - at least it was for me.

You lose all sense of time. You have no clue at any point how long you have been going for or how much time you have left. You also get disoriented - it felt like I had the bed spins at times and it felt like I could fall over.

It was also 42 degrees outside when I did this and I did it barefoot with nothing but joggers and a long sleeve t-shirt on. My body started shaking sometime into it all - not sure if it was from shivering or just fatigue from holding a single position for so long. Or maybe it was my body fighting back for forcing it to finally sit still - finally forcing it from the driver's seat.

You drift between being fully present in the moment and wandering into your thoughts. This is why you lose track of time, but it also allows you to explore the depths of your mind that you haven't been able to access before. The thoughts and ideas you wrestle with create an interesting experience.

It's these thoughts I will share with you in this post. I came home right after my hour was up and began to write down the things I thought about so I wouldn't forget them and so I could further think and develop them.

Warning though - we go deep.

An hour can be intense, but I highly recommend that everyone try at least 30 minutes. It's a worthwhile experience, and you can learn a great deal about yourself. This is particularly beneficial if you're at a stage in life where you're dealing with challenges or stresses that are difficult to resolve.

As always, the answers and the power to face them are already within us. You just have to find them.

So go hunting...

Beyond the Flesh

We are more than our body...

In a world that constantly pulls our attention in every direction, focus becomes not just a tool—but a weapon. It's the tip of the spear that pierces through the noise, shaping our perception, our direction, and ultimately, our destiny. But if we are to live with focus, we must first understand what we truly are—and what we are not.

The flesh is weak. No matter how much we train it, protect it, or build it—it will always be limited. It deteriorates. It breaks down. And eventually, it dies.

Always.

But you are not your body.

You are your spirit. That is your essence. And that essence is life itself. The animating force behind every thought, every ambition, every moment of meaning. And when that spirit is rooted in God, it becomes eternal.

Therefore, if I am life – what is death? Death of a body?

It is not death of me,

For I am not my body.

So then, what is there to fear in death? It is merely an end to the constraints of the spirit.

Death, then, is not an ending—but a release.

So, what is the body for? Why this vessel?

The body is the bridge between the spiritual and material. It is the means by which the spirit expresses itself. Every action—every act of love, hate, indifference, or inaction—reflects the state of our spirit. Each choice is a brick laid in the house that becomes our essence.

And those choices are what life is truly measured by—not time.

Time is not real. What is a second? Truly.

Things like time and distance are tools of the flesh—constructs to help the physical mind grasp the infinite. But life isn’t measured in seconds or miles. It’s measured in decisions.

Therefore, I am measured in decisions.

Small choices. Big choices. They’re all the same in spiritual weight. Because when made in alignment with God and spirit, each one carries the power to build, to change, to guide. Every choice becomes sacred when made with intention.

But here's the problem: the flesh doesn't want change. It wants comfort – and our ambitions will always lie outside of our comfort zone. The flesh will trick you—magnify small obstacles, stir fear, distort your perception— creating a detour to keep you “safe” inside your comfort zone.

That’s how you end up stuck. Not because your ambition isn't real. But because your focus has been lost.

The flesh will always try to distract you. And many times, it will succeed. Not only that, but it will make it feel justified – because that justification will reinforce the state of complacency it strives to maintain.

But the spirit? The spirit is strong. The spirit is infinite. And it will lead—if you let it. If you stay connected.

We know the physical mind cannot comprehend the infinite - therefore, is the body yet another construct?  Have we been given these fragile bodies to help us better understand a much larger idea? Life, perhaps? 

This idea further reinforces that life exists beyond the passing of the body. Much like time still exists beyond the passing of a second. The constructs themselves aren't what's important. It's what survives the constructs. 

What survives both time and the body are the same - 

The impact of our choices. Good or bad. 

And our spirit. 

That voice within that drives you to always start again. That wants more. That wants to make an impact. That knows there is more to all of this.

That is your spirit.

Let it lead.

There’s a divine sequence:

• God directs the spirit.

• The spirit gives birth to ambition.

• Ambition pulls you toward your purpose.

• Purpose is fulfilled through daily, focused choices.

  
  

This is the path to becoming more than a body. More than a name. This is how you live a life that echoes beyond the limits of time or matter.

You are life. Not the body. Not the time it occupies. But the essence that chooses, acts, and leaves behind a legacy in alignment with an eternal purpose.

So choose wisely.

Focus relentlessly.

Live from the spirit.

And let God lead.

Because the body will pass. But your essence—your choices—your impact—can last forever.