The baby population at Never Doubt has hit record highs (with more on the way)! It reminds me of when we had our first. Before that bundle of joy came into this world my wife and I talked to friends, read the books, had conversations about how we would parent, discipline, communicate. We were pretty much going to be awesome.

And then he arrived.

He was what “they” call “colicky.” I still have no idea what that means except that he wouldn’t sleep and he LOVED to cry. All the time. Every single moment. Of every single day.

Turns out my friends didn’t know much. The books were a joke. And us being awesome? Well, I’ll let your imagination wander (to save some suspense – we weren’t).

I don’t remember exactly when but there was a conversation I overheard that has stuck with me. They were talking about life and curveballs that get thrown at you and one of them said, “I have found that all that I can do is the next best thing based on the information at hand.”

The next best thing. Ok. I guess the next best thing is to pick up my child. Then maybe the next best thing is to change the diaper. (What I found out was that yelling for a 3 month old to stop crying ISN’T the next best thing.)

I have found that with our health we often are like what I was with my child – that “yelling” is going to solve the problem. Maybe better put we wish to: lose weight or get in shape or eat better. But at some point we actually have to do something. It’s way too overwhelming to say, “I want to lose 15 pounds and so I better go to the gym and change my diet.” I’ll take the goal. But now I have to do the next best thing: go to a class or choose a vegetable or get personalized help with a training plan. One momentary decision at a time. And then one more decision. And then one more.

And when we make a mistake – there’s always the next best thing to get back on track.

Deep down we all know the next best thing for ourselves. Now it’s time to do it.