Fear is a Five Letter Word

While playing with the little ones today (my kids, of course) I make some ghoulish, ghostly noises and both of them ran in fear. “Don’t daddy,” yelled my little girl, “you’re scaring me.” Naturally, I burst out in laughter to show them I was kidding and to put them both at ease. In fact, shortly thereafter they were climbing on my back and doing their best job to tickle me into submission. Real scary, huh?

As we move into the month of October, talk of Halloween seems to be around every corner. With all the witches, ghost and goblins running around town, one could really let fear get in the way. The thing that I find most frightening, however, is our health; specifically, our poor health. But I’m not going to play the role of naysayer just so you’ll take a more active role in your overall wellness. After all, that’s what I do for a living. For the sake of this article, I would like to have a little, um, fun.

So let’s talk a little bit about your fears. What is it that frightens you? Spend a minute or two with this concept rather than just saying a scary movie or a night spent alone. What is it that really scares you? Death? The loss of family? Growing old alone? I’m sure these are real concerns for a lot of us. In fact, fear can be paralyzing if you allow it. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way.

When you wake up every morning, take a moment or two to count your blessings. If you are able to read this post, for example, you have access to a computer and can communicate with family and friends. Many people in the world do not have this luxury. In fact, many people don’t know where they will sleep or find their next meal. Now, once you are awake and have your bearings, pursue the life you want with reckless abandon. If you need help, ask for it and someone will most certainly lend a hand. If you are hungry or thirsty, I’m almost positive you will be able to find food or drink – probably within a few minutes.

There are lots of things we can fear in this world, but I would prefer not to. After all, fear is a five letter word!

Live Well!

3 Steps to Simplicity

Assuming you have a pulse (go ahead and check if you like) you’ve probably said sometime within the last 30 days, “I wish I could simply my life.”  Don’t we all?  Unfortunately, it’s just the world we live in.  The pace of our lives have gotten extremely fast and the demands on us seem to be growing exponentially.  No wonder we’re stressed and exhausted when the weekend rolls around and we resort to copious amounts of alcohol and rich, unhealthy foods.  Instead of waking up full of energy on Saturday morning, we lay in bed feeling foggy and then miss the chance to go for a walk, run or hike.

This weekend I took the chance to reflect on things we can do to simply our life, specifically as it pertains to our health and wellness. They are as follows:

1. Fitness: spend at least 20-30 minutes per day doing some kind of fitness activity.  Even if it’s only going for a walk, if you can do it for 30 minutes per day, every day of the week, you will NOT gain weight.  (Naturally, you will need to exercise longer if your goal is to lose weight.)  While some of you are probably questioning, “every day of the week,” you will find it easier if you just make it part of your routine and don’t even give it a second thought.

2. Nutrition: plan all 21 of your meals for the week.  This may sound challenging, but it removes a lot of choices from your routine, especially ones that are made when you’re tired or stressed.  And trust me, nobody makes good choices when you’re in that position.  You don’t even have to stick with all the meals you have planned, but if you do a good job of planning (say, on a Sunday afternoon while you’re of sound mind and body) you will have all of the hard work out of the way.

3. Personal Time: schedule downtime for every day of the week.  Even if it’s only for 10 minutes.  You cannot empty the gas tank every day and assume that you will be able to continue at that same pace forever.  Sit in a chair in a dark, quiet room and listen to nothing but your breath.  Or, listen some classical music while walking around block.  Give yourself a chance to unplug and catch your breath.  DO NOT spend your personal time texting your friends or surfing the web.

These are just a few ideas on how to simplify your health and wellness.  What are some things you do to keep it simple?

Live Well!

What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)

I want to know, what you’re thinking.  There are some things you can’t hide.  I want to know what you’re feeling.  Tell me what’s on  your mind!

We’re all interested in having more energy, right?  I mean, just read the Tweet (Twitter) stream and you’ll notice the “I’m tired” Tweets outnumber those that talk about “feeling great” by a count of 2 to 1.  In fact, it’s exhausting just to read all the whining.  Sorry, it’s true.

Since I turned 40 this year (yep, also true) I’ve been paying a lot more attention to my energy and the energy of others.  It’s a pretty awesome thing.  For example, my kids – ages 5 and 3 – have an exorbitant amount of energy every moment they are awake.  Even when they are exhausted, they still have energy.  It just presents itself in a different way such as whining or crying.  When I run out of energy, I simply want to sit down.  And not move.  At all.

Another group of people I find have lots of surplus energy are successful entrepreneurs.  So much, in fact, I picked up a few books to read about them.  What I’ve found is that they are energized by a vision.  Some of them talk about being able to see a finished product or service while many others talk about creating a certain life for themselves and their families.  But almost all of them talk about working toward a goal and fighting through the roadblocks that are presented along the way.  It other words, they are energized by achieving what they set out to do.

What energizes you?  Tell me what’s on your mind!

Live Well!