I recently went to the doctor because I wasn’t feeling well. After an examination he said you have the flu, take it easy, eat well and continue to exercise. I asked if he could give me anything to make me feel better quicker.

“There is no magical pill,” he said. In fact, there is no magical pill for most sickness. You are responsible for your own health – watch what you eat and exercise. It takes work. Without putting in the work, you’re putting your heath at risk. It’s your responsibility.

As I left, I thought about it, and he was absolutely right. Health takes work and responsibility. It’s too easy to be lazy and look for technology to save us from ourselves. Whether it’s the magic pill for weight loss, the steroids for the athletes or the antibiotic for every minor sniffle, we want easy, fast answers that require nothing of us.

And it’s not too different with mental health. How often do we turn on the television or computer when we could be reading a book? Or when is the last time we have done mental math rather than simply pulling out the calculator?

What about our spiritual health? It’s a little harder to detect, but I think most of us would agree it’s an integral part of our lives. And too often we are lazy with that as well.

We go to the spiritual doctor once a week, typically for an hour, to take our spiritual medicine, and hope it is enough to maintain our health.

But is that enough? Is it so unique that the magical church doctor is enough to maintain its health? Or is it like our physical and mental health in that it needs constant attention and vigilance?

Life takes work. A fulfilling life takes a lot of work. We exercise for our physical health – We read for our mental health. But what about our spiritual health?

Cut the Crap: We can outsource our spiritual growth.

Bring in the Change: We are personally responsible for our spiritual development.

Timothy Velner is a husband, father, attorney and author living in Minneapolis. You can follow his daily blog – a series of discussions between the worry-self and the present-self at – thespiritualgym.me