CategoriesActionHealth & FitnessReframe your thoughtsWeight

Eat For Nourishment

Sometimes I eat for taste. At other times, I’ve eaten to procrastinate. Often we eat because of the time of day. However, if you eat for nourishment you’ll be on the best track.

Some people need to take whatever they can, whenever it is available. Other folks have food on tap all day and night. The challenge with that is that you might take more than you need.

If you take more than your body can process, you will gain some weight. Effectively, you would be using your body like a fringe and pantry. Rather than leaving the food comfortably near, you store it on you for future use.

This can be useful if you are about to swim across the English Channel. Having some extra body fat for warmth and energy will aid in your goal.

However, if you are not about to perform some endurance swimming, than try to keep things on the shelf until required.

Some of my favourite meals have been after being so very hungry. Food seems to taste better then. And eating clean, natural, foods with their tantalising taste, crispness and succulence can bring such pleasure to the mouth. Additionally, fresh food is so very good for your muscles, bones, skin and hair.

Eat for nourishment and you can thank me later.

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CategoriesActionProgressTime

Find Your Passion

Some people just know. Others take years to find their thing. The challenge is that it can change. But if you find your passion it will make your life more fulfilling.

If you are young and looking for it, be curious and try many things. See if you prefer being active, artistic or cerebral. Find things that spark joy in your life. If it lifts your spirits, then try to understand why.

It might be a skill you enjoy improving on. Alternatively, it could be serving others. You might like to create, direct or consume. Regardless, there is a place for you in this world.

Someone has to play chess for fun and others as professionals. People have to design and manufacture the boards. Some will be cheap and simple. Others will be elaborate and expensive. You will need coaches and people to write the books about the great players and the tactics of the game itself. Others will create ‘how to’ videos and ‘best of’ complications. And that is just for chess.

Look for those things that bring you the greatest fulfilment. But also know that there will be other things to do that won’t be as exciting but still need to be done. There will be admin, marketing, sales, organisation of events, course creation and making an income.

Some of these things can be done by others who enjoy those aspects.

So most importantly, find YOUR passion.

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CategoriesActionObserveTime

Finding The Best Deal

Take the first offer or shop around? People will do different things in different situations. Finding the best deal can be fun and rewarding but also time consuming and frustrating.

Are you someone that loves to find the best terms? Or if you find a price you think is reasonable, will you stop looking and go ahead and buy? Searching through all the possible options you can think of can be quite an interesting exercise. Some people thrive on it. Others do it out of current necessity. Sometimes it depends on the item, your finances, time available, or your desire to know all of the options.

Buying milk should be quite straightforward. You should easily and quickly be able to compare value based on standard sizes and fairly common prices. You may be a shopper for milk. However you may also be a grab and go kind of person for this product. Given its required nature for many things, and its relative low and stable price, some people wont even notice the price.

However, if you look at airline tickets or holidays, that may be another matter. I have spent too long reviewing some flight bookings. Mainly due to the timing options available. Though sometimes the price difference can be so great that you keep looking as you know what isn’t a great deal.

Finding the best deal is almost like a game. Spending enough time but not too much is the ideal way forward.

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CategoriesActionHealth & FitnessReframe your thoughtsTime

Go Camping For Fun

There are lots of ways to spend your time. Camping is a great one for kids. Especially if they have a friend or two with them. Go camping for fun and you will find it.

Like everything, camping has its pros and cons. Though some of its pros are the open spaces, learning to build and maintain a fire, hanging out with friends and getting away.

Some of the challenges can be the weather, the food storage, finding things you think you packed and late nights.

Now these can also be pros depending on how they are viewed. However, you may need to see them in a different light than you are used to.

We were camping this weekend and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. There were no tv’s or PS4’s but there were walks, pizza’s, marshmallow roasting, chats and lots of great stories, smiles and laughter.

It can be tiring too. There is all the prep, the packing of the car, the unloading, the finding of things and trying new activities. There is also the drive there and back and also around the area for food or activities.

It’s great to be a part of it, even with its challenges. You may even find yourself booking your next outing!

Go camping for fun.

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CategoriesActionHealth & FitnessTime

Getting Away From It All

How do you relax? Meditation is good. Having a nap can help. Watching a movie or going for a walk can do it for some folks. Getting away from it all may be the big one though.

A complete change of scenery and environment can do wonders for the mind, body and soul.

But getting away can mean many different things. Is it just away from your home? Or your neighbourhood? Could you go to a spa 10 miles away or do you need transcontinental travel?

Are you looking for adventure? Does action and excitement keep your mind focused and away from your daily life?

Some people prefer the serenity of a monastery. Others want to do yoga on a hilltop. Still others will go on amusement rides or play blackjack all night.

It really depends what you are looking for at this time in your life.

Mostly a change is as good as a rest, as the saying goes. Diversion of the mind can be quite a useful endeavour.

Regardless of what you do though, you’re best to come back rested, rejuvenated and ready to go.

Once you’ve had a taste of what does it for you, getting away from it all will never be the same.

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CategoriesActionGratitudeReframe your thoughts

Smile Through The Drama

Things sometimes go sideways. And they can go categorically wrong too. Those times that things don’t go well, smile through the drama if you need too.

Maybe the dog ate your homework, hat or cake. Perhaps you didn’t get the job you wanted, grade you needed or text you were waiting for. When these things happen, it can be easy to be annoyed or upset. Though I would encourage you to find something good or funny about the situation and smile.

Even if there is nothing good about the particular situation, that you can see in the moment, think of something nice and smile.

It is incredible how our thoughts can lead our body and our body can lead our thoughts. Just the simple act of smiling can start to make you feel uplifted. By making that facial expression, it is hard to not feel a little better.

This will also improve with practice. So if the first few times you do this, you can only manage a second or two, keep trying. The longer term benefits can be quite helpful in life. Being able to move yourself out of drama and into pleasantness will come in handy many times in life.

When life writes a twist in the play, smile through the drama.

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CategoriesActionGoals, Results & New ThinkingTime

Pick One Thing

What is it that you really want before you go? What would you like to be, do or have to celebrate and enjoy? Pick one thing and decide right now that it is your goal.

Get specific around this goal. Be so clear in what you see that you can describe it in detail. Write down the date you would like the success to come. Write down the time and the place. Note who you are with as well as the temperature and weather.

Ideally it will be something in the next 5 years. However, you can make it 10 years at the maximum. Almost anything can be achieved in that time with focus, discipline and persistence. This is especially true if you work out a plan and work on it daily. You need some key milestones to ensure you are getting the compound effect.

Try making those milestones monthly. Pick a day and a time in the month that it will be done by. Be sure to write out the specifics, even if it makes you a little nervous to do so. You will gain confidence in your ability to achieve the goal as you move closer to it on a daily basis.

Pick one thing today and work toward it daily.

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CategoriesActionGratitudeThink About It

Choosing Your Charity

Deciding which charity to support is straightforward for some. However, it can also be quite haphazard. Choosing your charity is a personal choice. It can be based on a singular reason or be multifactor.

I had a policy that if friends or colleagues asked me to sponsor them for their activity, I would. And if it involved a children’s charity, I would donate £20. All others would get £5, £10 or £15. Some years I had quite a few requests.

Sometimes I would be so busy at the time of the request, I would forget. Other times they would be on a new charity platform that I had to sign up to. That didn’t always work because if it wasn’t quick and easy, it wouldn’t get done.

We donate to other charities too, based on a few criteria. Although one we support is just because they came to our door and the kids thought we should do it because the person was so nice.

If someone you know is being, or has been, impacted by something, that can make the choice a lot simpler. Also, if your family has always supported a certain charity, you might inherit that habit too.

I do recall the phrase, ‘Charity begins at home.’ This is a good idea. Although it is nice to branch out a little and spread it amongst the community. Not everyone has a family that can help them.

Choosing your charity is a personal decision. How do you decide?

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CategoriesActionThink About It

Set Boundaries

We all need a little structure in our lives. Not too much, of course. However, some can be quite beneficial. Set boundaries too and you are likely to have a happier life.

These boundaries can be with friends, family, co-workers and even your partner. We have many unspoken and unwritten boundaries. These are simply cultural norms for people.

The norm could come from their family culture. Although this could differ from their religious culture. This in turn could be slightly adjusted when it comes to a regional or national culture.

I lot of people think groups are quite homogenous. That would make life, sorting and interactions so much simpler. However, it really isn’t that clear cut.

People have a view of Canadians and lump them altogether. It’s great when they say they are fun, kind and nice. However, people have different boundaries, depending on which province they are from, which city or which group.

French speakers from Quebec may be more tactile than English speakers from Toronto. The former may stand slightly closer and the later slightly further away. It may be just nuanced but boundaries can shift.

You should think about your own boundaries, in terms of physical, mental and spiritual. What is comfortable for you? And realise that those boundaries may be different from people that grew up in a different culture.

Set boundaries that work for you.

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CategoriesActionReframe your thoughtsTime

Shrug And Move On

If you want to improve a frustrating situation, sometimes you need to try a different tactic. Rather than get debating, simply shrug and move on.

There have been some times in my life where I would engage in deep debates or discussions on topics. These were usually hot topics of the day, but most had a common ever-present theme.

So I know it can be very easy to get caught up in a misunderstanding or a disagreement. And you really should understand which it is at first. You should also figure out what your intent is and what the intent of the other party is.

If your intent is to convince the other party that you are ‘right’, then you are probably in for a long, frustrating discussion. Same thing if that is their intent. However, if you are both sitting down to calmly understand the data the other person has, that can be different. Especially if you are both working toward reasonable steps to improve the situation.

Otherwise, why give it energy? If their opinion, or what you assume is their opinion, is not to your liking, ignore it. Save yourself some time and mild anxiety and continue with your day.

You may wish to try to understand why you object to their viewpoint. But also try looking at it from their perspective and why they may have that position. You can’t mind read but you can try to consider what situations might have lead them to this perspective. Try to think of 10 to 15 because the ones that come ready to you are often your own biased stereotypes.

For peace of mind, build up or shrug and move on.

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