The body runs on calories. The mind runs on ideas. The heart runs on desire.

We live in a culture that is excessively focused on the body. We try to find ways to manipulate the body, to make it strong and “healthy”, and we are told that if we have a strong and healthy body, we can do almost anything.

This is stupid. I have seen weak minds and unhealthy bodies do amazing things that no full-time gym member could ever accomplish. They conquered their challenges, not with a perfect body, but by having a strong heart.

I just got back from an epic two week trip out west with 80 high school students. We do a lot of crazy things on this trip. At the Grand Canyon, we hiked “rim to rim”, going 24 miles and climbing 6000 feet in 13 hours as we traversed across the entire canyon. We went rappelling off of 150+ ft cliffs. We rafted on freezing waters and traversed razor sharp ridges. Basically, we went on a crazy adventure.

On this trip, I always come away with an appreciation for how much having desire can override the pain off an adventure. It is awesome to see a 17 year old who has never traveled west of the Mississippi and never walked more than 3 miles in a day all of a sudden morph into a stone-cold warrior over night. On the cross-canyon hike, after already hiking for 19 miles, I went to bandage a student's feet with mole skin for her blisters. After using all my mole skin on a few toes, I promptly realized that her entire foot was covered in blisters. They were everywhere, and we still had 5 miles to travel and 3000 feet in elevation to go up, all in 112-degree heat. She kept hiking. And I am convinced that the reason she kept hiking was not because of her body or her mind. It was because of her heart.

It is not a strong body or a strong mind that will get you across the Grand Canyon. It is a strong heart.

It is not a strong body or a strong mind that will get you through a year of teaching. It is a strong heart.

It is not a strong body or a strong mind that will get you through the adventure of life. It is a strong heart.

When you get ready for a big adventure, don’t spend so much time preparing your body. Prepare your heart. The body will follow.

After spending years analyzing many different life paths of many different people, I have come to the conclusion that you become what you desire. We are much more like gods than animals.

Guard your heart accordingly.

(For more reading on the heart and desire and dreams, read this post.)