Healthy Living DIY

Sometimes we all get a bit confused about the difference between where a symptom shows up and what caused it. I know I do myself. So in explaining this difference to a bodywork client the other day, I came up with a little story, which I'll title "Cat and Catastrophe."

Cat and Catastrophe

Imagine you're driving down the main street of your town. Unexpectedly, a cat runs out in front of your car. You, being an alert driver and also a cat-lover, react quickly to avoid catastrophe. You stop on a dime. Fluffy goes on to see another day and stake a claim on her remaining 8 lives.

Yet...

Somewhere behind you, you hear a loud "thwak."

You stopped quickly and Fluffy was spared. Yet someone behind you wasn't able to react as efficiently. Somewhere down the chain, there was a failure to compensate. Catastrophe occurred! Just not at the site of the initial problem.

We all know the medical consequences of stress by now, right? Heart disease, inefficient immunity leading to more colds & bugs (perhaps even cancer), obesity, etc. Let's face it, stress plays a role in nearly every known chronic or degenerative condition.

But to a stressed-out person, those facts mean very little. It's the truth! And there's a very simple reason. The potential consequences, if they should occur, will show up in the future. Where the stress is here NOW. To a stressed-out person, NOW is much more relevant than something that might happen in ten years. Or fifteen. Or maybe never (if I repent from my stress-laden lifestyle after this crisis has passed).

So let's think about this differently. How does stress affect your quality of life today? And how might your quality of life be measurably better tomorrow if you got a handle on that stress tonight?

One thing I think we can all agree on is we've got a lot going on. And for most of us, dealing with time can be extremely stressful.

Can be.

Doesn't have to.

Let's consider your plan for a single day. We'll call it "today."

How will you arrive at the end of "today" with a feeling of satisfaction that you moved your life toward the fulfillment of your goals in the best way possible ... and enjoyed yourself doing it? That you enhanced rather than depleted your precious life-force energy? And that you made the world around you just a little bit brighter?

Enhance your relationship with time using these 3 tips:

"Eating healthy is a great idea. In theory. But who has time?"

This same comment has come up several times in the past couple of weeks -- so I thought we might like to toss it around. I'm thinking a couple of posts. Today we'll cover two of the most common kinds of faulty logic that might lead people to that conclusion. Next time two more. And the time after that, a quick & solid look at how to make things happen to feed yourself well.

Now first of all, let's set the record straight. All logic that might lead people to hedge in the kitchen is not faulty! With all the conflicting information available in the marketplace about what is or isn't a healthy food choice, it's easy to just become so confused that you throw up your hands and head for the drive-through.

So let's say that's not the problem. You actually have taken the time to come to an informed conclusion about what to eat and how to prepare it. You just don't ever seem to be able to pull it off! The question is why?