About three years ago, I discovered a wonderful organization that operates in my community. Mission of Mercy is a Christian non-profit organization that provides free medical and dental care in several states, including Maryland.
Operating out of large mobile homes converted to doctor’s offices, they travel to communities with populations of underserved people. This organization is simply amazing 🙂
I just got back from four absolutely relaxing and stress-free days of retreat. And let me tell you, I loved being in the country.
Whenever I go the back way to my friend Nancy’s retreat center, I have to drive over this bridge. Coming from California, I don’t think I was ever on a one lane bridge until traveling across this one, known as the Fourpoints Bridge.
I hate to say it, but I’m always so busy, I never really took the time to check the bridge out until this little retreat.
Despite the heat and high humidity, I’ve been trying to get out and walk twice a day. When I first changed my diet and began exercising, walking was my method of choice.
First off, walking doesn’t cost anything. You just throw on your shoes and go. After making the decision to get healthier, I did just that. I still remember that first walk. Even though it wasn’t strenuous, within minutes I was struggling. How did I let myself get to this point?
Here’s another guest post from my friend Todd Burrier, who is always looking for ways to support people’s good health. He blogs at toddburrier.com. Todd’s post below is a reminder that learning all the facts about nutrition and not just going with what the marketers tell us is critical to our long-term health.
I realize that because I blog on topics related to living a better life, and with a positive perspective, that I could easily be seen as someone who is either wearing rose-colored glasses all the time or just doesn’t have to deal with anything difficult.
Nothing could be further from the truth. I admit that my glasses are rose-colored more often than not…but that is a choice. And one that ANYONE can choose. There is a positive and negative to everything, why not choose to look at the positive? It is generally a healthy way to view things and it sure feels a lot better! As I have related in past blogs, written in my books, speak about in my seminars, and share with everyone I coach and mentor…it has taken me years to grow from someone who could always point out the negatives and why things are bad for me, to someone who sees the world the opposite way.
Life Happens to me just like it happens to you. I don’t ignore the challenges and adversities in life…THAT would be unhealthy. I do however, focus on how to overcome. It is true that it is not what happens to us that matters, it is what we do about it, and with it, that really matters. I was just overseas on an amazing trip. One in which I received a major award, saw tremendous fruits from my efforts and spent time with incredible people. I left home on a great note as well. While I was away, there was a major “life happens” event in our family. It was handled incredibly well by my wife and my sister, but it is not something that will go away any time soon. It will require adjustments. This is what you do…when things happen, you deal, and then you adjust. You don’t spend time wallowing or wishing it wasn’t so…this is how things get worse, not better.
As I write this, I am using my wife’s computer. Mine crashed the morning after I got back. This cost me many hours of productivity yesterday and will over the next several days. I have to admit…I was a little…upset…yesterday for a few minutes…but after I realized the situation, I have no choice but to work around it. Life Happens.
The key to dealing with “life Happens”, is mental outlook and living a balanced and productive life. When you feed your mind positively you are more up to the task when something confronts you. Balanced productivity means that you are never in neglect in the important areas, so a temporary interference won’t cause you too much issue. These are bigger topics and not for today’s blog.
It happens to everyone. We’re going along fine, achieving our goals, fulfilling our commitments, and life is good. But then, an unexpected expense, an illness, a major disappointment, or some type of loss occurs, and we may get the impression that we’re right back to square one. And if we are, so what?
Yesterday, I took a great walk around my mom’s neighborhood (and beyond). In this area, there are always lots of people out getting exercise, so I passed quite a few folks during my hour-long adventure. I even passed someone I know I’ve seen in the movies. I said hello, she smiled and kept on going. The joy of living in L.A. 🙂
As I was going, I noticed something pretty quickly. Almost universally, every time I passed someone, they put their heads and eyes down and didn’t acknowledge me. When I’m in Maryland, people want to stop and talk, which doesn’t make for the best exercise experience, but in the end, I enjoy it.
The other day, I realized that it had been a very long time since I posted anything about type II diabetes. Recently, one of the people from my church asked me to meet with her.
She had just been diagnosed with pre diabetes, and she was scared. She asked if it would be possible to sit down with her and her son to talk about diabetes and how they could prevent it. Their desire to get back on track while there is still time is pretty common. Actually doing something about it is not.
It’s another beautiful day in Maryland. After what seems like a very long winter (which still isn’t over), these past few days of temperatures in the upper sixties have everyone longing for spring.
I’ve just gotten back from a long walk 🙂 I took my usual route through the neighborhood, and as I was marking the mid-way point, I realized that I hadn’t walked outside since late November. That’s a very long time ago, and I was struck by just how much I enjoy exercising outside. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the gym, but it’s just different.
Seven weeks ago, I made a New Year’s Resolution to complete a Fitness Challenge at my local YMCA. The program is loosely based on the Biggest Loser television show, which puts people into workout teams and they compete to see who can lose the most weight.
Well, I’m at the midway point in the ten week challenge, and things are going pretty well. I’ve lost about ten pounds and am moving towards my goal. More importantly, I’ve been working out just about every day, and that’s where I’m seeing the most improvement.