Lori Logic

I’m exhausted. I just finished cheering, crying and eating my way through the Super Bowl and the Olympics back-to-back! I started thinking about the training, the dedication, the amazing habits of athletes. My habits are slightly different. Some people call them quirky, maybe even eccentric. I say I'm habitually consistent. In my mind it makes perfect sense to park my car on the same row every single time I go to the mall, no matter how many other spaces are available closer to the door. Using Lori Logic (patent pending), I don’t have to remember anything extra. . . like did I get there in a car? I have a hard enough time just trying to remember why I even went to the mall in the first place. I get side-tracked easily by shiny objects and goodness knows, the mall is a glittering distraction of "play pretties" for a girl with no blinders and even less willpower.

Some people have good healthy habits, like taking vitamins on a regular basis. I routinely take an aspirin before I get to the doctor’s office, because using my Lori Logic, it keeps me from feeling ill when I see a sick person in the waiting room. I have the “gift” of empathy and I can absorb another person’s pain just by looking at the expression on their face. My family will testify that I was not allowed to watch television shows about hospitals as a child. Whenever I did, then the next day I would be convinced I had the same dreaded disease as the television character. My mother would have to scream, "You've never been to Africa and you don't have Malaria, so get up and GO TO SCHOOL!" Now when I take my aspirin I don’t have to remember anything extra. . . like does the person who just sneezed on me have the plague?

'Early to rise' is a habit I did not inherit from my dad. It can’t possibly be good for anyone to be jolted awake by an alarm in the wee hours while it is still dark outside. I take care of myself by rising slowly with the sun much later in the morning. When I am forced to get up early for a flight, I literally sleep in my clothes the night before. Using my Lori Logic, I don’t have to remember anything extra in a groggy stupor. . . like what am I going to wear and more importantly, does it match?

I am actually a very systematic person. I like organization and efficiency. I just have my own personal (or peculiar) style of consistency. It takes a driving discipline to be a world-class athlete. It takes a focused plan to be a success and accomplish goals. The same is true of the inner life. There are spiritual disciplines that deepen my personal commitment to my faith. I take Communion on a regular basis in remembrance that Christ died for my sins. I fast once a year to let the hunger pangs remind me of the sacrifice of faith I should never take for granted. I read the scriptures so the Holy Spirit can speak directly to me, not relying on someone else’s quiet time for inspiration. Then I don’t have to remember anything extra. . . using my Lori Logic, Jesus is more than enough.