Thoughts on Exercise and Happiness

Quote from an article in IDEA Fitness Journal. The article is "The Skinny on Happiness."  

 

"Exercise is one of the most effective tools we can use to elevate our level of happiness. But when we focus on loosing weight, or moving because we think we have to, we can turn one of nature's best medicines into a bad-tasting pill.

 

More and more research is proving the mental health benefits of exercise.... One of the best known studies-the SMILE Study (Standard Medical Intervention and Long-Term Exercise), conducted at Duke University (Blumethal et al. 2007)- showed that exercising times a week for 30 minutes each time was as helpful as taking an antidepressant for patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder. What's more, those on the drug were 4 times more likely to relapse into depression once the intervention ended compared with those who exercised.

Exercising, however, is not like taking and anti depressant.  In fact, according to Tal Ben-Sharar, PHD, author of several books on happiness, including "Even Happier: A Gratitude Journal for Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment (McGraw Hill) it's the other way around: in essence , not exercising is like taking a depressant. We have the need for exercise, and when this need is not fulfilled, we pay a price. We were not made to be inactive, sitting in front of a computer screen all day, or spending our days in meetings. We were made to run after an antelope for lunch, or run away from a lion so that we don't become lunch.  We frustrate a physical need when we don't exercise, and when we frustrate a need-whether of vitamins, proteins or exercise-we pay a price."

"Oh, the Places You'll Go"- Thank you Dr Seuss

Who remembers the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go"?

Well, when my kids were little I wanted them to become familiar with life as a journey.

Sometimes it's amazing, interesting and exciting. You know exactly where you are going and what to do

" You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top ...all the rest."

Other times the journey can be more challenging with "bang ups and Hang ups."

The amazing thing is this: We DO eventually figure it out.

This lovely book goes on to say: "Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying. You'll find the bright places where the boom bands are playing"......"Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you're that kind of guy!"

And then it happens again....the dark, hard and trying places. "But on you WILL go....though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak."

Will you succeed??????

"YES! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!"

Never give up working to be the BEST version of yourself you can be.

Where are you on your journey??

Are you settling or are you striving?

How do you know what you are truly capable of?????

Think about it.

Verb: Multi - Devotional

Muti-Devotional....

Definition:

Verb-action word....when one picks up the ball from one part of their life they do well and carries it over to the other part of their life to aid and assist in the effort of devotion to overall healthy life choices.

OR:

It's not all that difficult one just must be AWARE and INVOLVED in ones life.

How many of us just shuffle through and make choices because they are easy??

Now make choices because the are the RIGHT choice.

Emotional Eating

What is your relationship with food? 

Do you have one?

Do you use it as a tool to deal with stress or other emotional pain?

Geneen Roth, an author and speaker that  greatly admire has written a book:

Women God and Food: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything  could be worth a read.

A quote:

"The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened you believe you are, how you eat tells all. The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life. Rather than getting rid of or instantly changing your conflicted relationship with food, Women Food and God is about welcoming what is already here, and contacting the part of yourself that is already whole — divinity itself."



“we don’t want to eat hot fudge sundaes as much as we want our lives to be hot fudge sundaes.”

 How many of us can relate to this? 

What I know from life and having spent many years now working with people is that so many of us tie our emotions to food.  In order to bring your self to a place where all the elements are centered and balanced this relationship needs to be dealt with.
 

Resolving to move forward

Reflection:

We all hurt or have been hurt....no path is perfect and we all know that.  I really believe to a great extent that we each CHOOSE how we get through life.  At the end of my time here I want to be able to sit somewhere tropical (yes, where I will live)  with a fabulous glass of wine in one hand and my loved ones around me reveling in what a great ride it was...that I lived wholly, that I made a difference, that people are better for having known me. 

The world will go on but I just want to know I have made a positive ripple.:)

Heal a hurt today...move forward today...do not repeat mistakes today....learn to sincerely love and be loved today.

Second Reflection:

Life only goes in one direction-forward.

If we hold on to hurt and pain how does that mesh?

 It doesn't.

It sets you on the sidelines and then you just wait your whole life to LIVE.

 It is OK to mull over hurts when they happen-and we should so that we learn.

 However, if life is what we each make it then what kind of life are we each making for ourselves if we do not CHOOSE to heal and move forward?

Looking toward your own horizon

Horizon...

Definition: The line at which the sky and earth appear to meet.

So what does it mean when we say...Look toward the horizon..????

More succinctly...what does it mean to you?

Blogging, like life, is a marathon...or an Ultra-but certainly not a 5k.

Yesterday, like many people, I spent a good portion of the day watching the 118th Boston Marathon. It holds a special place in my heart, not just because I am a runner; but  because I grew up out there.  In general it was such a healing and joyous day; what a wonderful show of unity. I even looked up my qualifying time again all the while wondering if, in fact, I still had it in me to work to qualify.  Years ago, I made a choice to help pace others through to their goals in Chicago.  It was a worthwhile pursuit.  In this moment I am still pondering.

Over the years life moves on as it does, relentlessly forward.  Kids have grown,  we have moved north....as far north as I will ever go having discovered in my middle age just how much I dislike winter. My perfect life is summers north and winters far south.  The thought of never really having to wear a ski mask and 5 layers to run ever again is very attractive to me; especially after our 100 year winter. 

So, as I sit here and type this out...I am thinking: "9:54:00 per mile...at 26 miles, Hmm...maybe."  Or maybe just train and run..and more running...

Like everyone else I am caught up in kids, job, home...and all the amazing joy and trial that life brings.  One thing I have learned is this:  every day is new.  It's a chance to start again.  It's a chance to do life better-every time the sun rises. Life is the coolest marathon I know.