Reflecting, again

Since the beginning of the year, my lack of exercise and over-snacking has been noticeable. To understand why I reflected. So, I did a deep dive inside myself.

Here’s what I found…

In December, a dear friend died of a heart attack very suddenly. He had a heart condition and 5 years ago had a triple bypass. Before his surgery and since the surgery he has eaten right, exercised regularly, and watched his stress levels. On the surface, I knew that he had a heart condition and that was a major factor in his death. My deep dive revealed that I was subconsciously telling myself why bother since he had done it all right and died anyway. It would have been easy to remind myself of his heart condition to get my exercise routine back up and running. Instead, I told myself that the way to honor my friend’s memory was to take care of myself.

We inevitably die. So, how we spend the time between birth and death is important, maybe even the key to life. To this end, I am starting a drop-in coaching group for productivity and time management later this month. I want to make sure that everyone remembers to take care of themselves, do the things they love, and be with the people they love.

As the saying goes “No one ever said ‘I wish I had spent more time at work.’” We are in the second month of the year already (WOW!) making it an ideal time to plan out our regular exercise, get back to a hobby (I am back taking a hand-building ceramics class), and make time to be with family and friends. “No matter how old you are or what you’re going through, healthy and close friendships encourage positive mental health and well-being. These friends can celebrate with you through the good times in life and be there for you through the bad.” — Mental Health First Aid

And on hobbies…” Pleasures can bring a lift to your mood. Since hobbies generally bring pleasure into people's lives, maintaining hobbies can be good for your overall sense of joy.” — Amy Morin, Very Well Mind The best thing for me with the ceramics class is that I do it with my friend, Tracy. I get joy two-fold.

This post is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend, Mark. He is loved and he is missed.