13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Everything starts in the mind, except, maybe, when you stub your toe in the middle of the night. Our lives of faith are about our minds, our thinking part of our being. Peter says that we need to prepare our minds for action. Preparation takes some time. It must be done before the event. I hate last minute preparations. I always feel rushed and stressed. I would rather pull the stress closer to the “now” and get the details finished, so that I don’t have to feel rushed. When I was in college I would always look at my syllabus at the beginning of the semester and find out when my projects were due. Then I would schedule them to be started and completed before they were due. That way I could take that pressure off myself. I hate the last minute pressure. I put the pressure on my schedule. I spread it out over time. I took control of it, rather than letting it control me. I still do that today. I look out into the future and take control of those things I can control and schedule my life. It is not that I am disciplined by nature, it is just that I hate the pressure of last minute. I will do almost anything to avoid that pressure, even if it means being disciplined! I am preparing my mind for action. I am clearing it of one unnecessary distraction. How prepared is your mind for action? Are you eating right? Exercising? Eliminating distractions? Staying focused? Taking control of your negative thoughts? Keeping your mind on things above?
The Arnold Journey 