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Category: Health & Fitness
Your Choices Create You
With every choice you make, you create your future. Each decision about people, places and things matter. Your choices create you as you select environment, friends and behaviours.
All the choices you have made have got you where you are now. Your decisions have influenced where you live. They also determined your income, family makeup, clothes you wear and hobbies you have.
Every choice you have made, big or small, has moved you in a direction. Your current situation is a result of all those decisions. Hopefully it is mostly good. If there are any areas you would like to change, you need to make different decisions for your future.
Want to stop drinking? Make different decisions than you do now. Decide to not go to the pub. Or, if you do, drink tea, water or soft drinks. Don’t bring alcohol into the house and you won’t be able to drink at home.
If you want to get your fitness up, then you need to start exercising more. Stop smoking or vaping. Eat healthier foods. Hang around different people. You will succeed quicker if you have healthier people around you. Also, decide to see yourself as a fit and healthy person. This one decision will have a huge impact on your results.
Your choices create you. Keep making better ones every day.
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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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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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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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Here’s To Volunteers!
Where would the world be without volunteers? I never fully appreciated how much they did for children and society. Here’s to volunteers!
When I was growing up in rural Canada, there was a volunteer fire department in one of the larger nearby towns. There were coaches for hockey, floor hockey and softball, amongst others. None of them were paid. Additionally, they were usually Dad’s and sometimes Mom’s who wanted to be involved with their children’s activities.
Now with my own children, I can see how much time and effort has gone into the many experiences they have enjoyed. Whether it was the local fair that is run by community members or school trips, so many activities require people to help out.
The school PTA, class trips to museums and parks, or some of the sporting activities, they all require some element of people making things happen without remuneration.
Many people do this work in addition to their job, ferrying kids around and organising their own lives. They organise football triangulars and the requisite car sharing. They also plan out training sessions, exercises and skill enhancement drills.
Today I was at an athletics event for my oldest son. There were lots of parents helping out. Whether it was raking the long jump pit, measuring throwing distances or timing the races, there was a lot to do. In addition, the coaches organised the day including sorting out who was to do which event. It worked very well. It was an entire day.
Without the coaches and the parents, the kids would not have had an athletics event to attend, enjoy or excel at.
Here’s to volunteers!
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Trust Your Intuition
This is a skill you should put some effort into. The more you can practice and improve, the better your decisions may be. Trust your intuition but understand what that means.
Use the force. Amplify your sixth sense. Check your spidy-senses. Are they tingling? There are many ways to convey the idea of intuition or gut feeling. It has been presented in many different forms in real life, on TV and in movies.
And of course you can dismiss it, denigrate it or ignore it. However, I do not suggest you do that. Rather, I suggest that you try to relax your mind and body and develop the skill. Learn to understand yourself when things seem not quite right.
The more you do this the more you will trust your instinct and act on it. This should help you make better decisions more often.
You know you have experienced this at various times. I am sure you have said, “something doesn’t feel quite right.” You may not always know why you are feeling that way, but you may note the sensation. This is a good start. Observing the disturbance in you is a first step. Interpreting why you are noting it is another.
Trust your intuition while you continue to refine it.
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Consistency Is Powerful
Getting started can be tough. Continuing can be even harder. But that is the work you need to do to succeed. Consistency is powerful both in terms of confidence and outcomes.
A consistent drip of water is enough to put a dent or hole in a rock over time. You may not get the result you want straight away, but over time the probability of reaching your goal increases.
You can see this with any goal you are aiming at. If you are consistent with the foods and drinks you consume, you can reduce or maintain your weight. Keeping to a daily and weekly exercise regime will work wonders to tone your body and improve your fitness.
The great feeling of seeing daily or weekly improvements also builds confidence. Inconsistent approaches return uncertain results. This in turn weakens your faith in the process. With a reduction in faith, you are less likely to continue to do the things you are supposed to do. This creates an unnecessary loss in confidence.
You see, the flywheel can work both ways. It can help you improve, gain confidence and flourish. However, the negative reinforcement can also accelerate your demise.
Consistency is powerful. Use it to your benefit.
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Open Up And Say Ahh
Our corner of the world is getting better. Lockdown and restrictions are lifting and almost gone. We can open up and say ahh.
We did that Thursday night with our monthly property meetup. The first Thursday of each month we organise an opportunity for property investors to join together to meet and chat. It was a lovely evening on Richmond Green. We had donuts to celebrate Canada Day and also Alan’s birthday on the 4th.
It was a great evening outside. We could buy drinks at The Cricketers, where we’ve been holding the meetup for almost 5 years. It was so nice to see many other groups on the Green. Short sleeve shirts and some shorts were common. I did not see any masks. It all started to feel rather familiar.
That was the second consecutive property meetup we’ve held in person. It was a nice change to our Zoom calls. They had their pros and cons, and so do the in person gatherings.
I’ve seen the future and I think you are going to like it. It looks similar to 2019. In the UK we are due to open up fully on the 19th of July. It could be quite exciting. It is only 2.5 weeks away. Most children will be out of school by then or by the end of that week.
Open up and say ahh.
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Go In The Rain
To build good habits, achieve or succeed, you need to show up. This means you do it even when you don’t feel like it. Sometimes this even means you need to go in the rain.
I’m reminded of this as it was raining this morning. You may recall a recent post about early morning walks. These are always easier when it is light out, it’s a nice temperature and it’s dry.
It is more difficult to get up and go when it is dark, cold or wet. And it’s certainly more challenging when it is all three. I’m reminded of my marathon training a couple of years ago. It was in the winter so there were a few days that were all three. And getting up at 05:00 to face the elements in the dark and run 18 km would sometimes make it less appealing.
However, you need to push through. Be consistent and persistent and you can achieve the goals you want. You will develop the habits you need to and it will happen sooner. But you need to make a plan, put it in the diary and stick to it.
Your confidence grows if you stick to your plan. Alternatively, your confidence can shrink if you do not. In that case, your hard work can start to unravel. We certainly don’t want that.
So, as we did this morning, go in the rain.
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