How was your week of reflection and gratitude? Can you write down at least 10 things, right
now, that you’re grateful for in your life?
When you think about your gratitude’s do you find they fit into one part
of your life or are they in all areas of your life? For example, do you only list family,
friends, and relationships? Was there
anything on your list that related to your health? What about your finances? I encourage you to
continue to look at even the littlest things and to make gratitude a part of
each day throughout your entire day.
The past two weeks have been filled with decade birthday
celebrations: 70, 60, and 10. Our
granddaughter, Sophia, was 10 yesterday.
She’s in the 4th grade, learning violin, and loving the play time
with the neighborhood kids. She is an
avid reader, a protector of her brother (most of the time), enjoys hiking,
biking, and exploring the world around her. It’s amazing as we watch her learn
more about who she is as a young girl - her whole life ahead of her.
Each decade, for me, has had its own challenges and its
own growth, but isn’t that what life’s journey is all about? Hopefully, what remains constant is the
mission to continually learn and grow mentally and emotionally, and a constant
focus on personal health and wellness. Stages
in adult development show our 20’s being the time to establish careers, marriage,
and children. In our thirties, we are gaining
more confidence in our jobs, children are probably starting school, we seem to
be juggling more activities and time commitments which often times means we’re
spending less and less time on our personal self. At 40, we begin to look at our life as half
over. The issues and problems we had earlier
in life seem much less dramatic as the ones which we’ll face in the next 40
years. Things like taking care of ailing
parents, the loss of a parent(s), children leaving home and establishing their
own lives, retirement, the loss of a spouse, our own death.
So how do we make the most of each decade and still
enjoy every decade? First and foremost,
I would venture to say that if we don’t have our health our choices are
extremely limited. It’s a choice. It’s a choice to quit smoking, it’s a choice
to address addictions, it’s a choice to make exercise a part of the day, it’s a
choice to eat healthy and reduce portion sizes!
It means paying attention to your weight and not settle for the couple
pounds that seem to add on each year. It
means paying attention to your balance and flexibility. It means not ignoring and not giving excuses
for your lack of physical fitness. We are all aging; however, the key is what
do you plan to do about it?
Darren Hardy, editor and publisher of Success
magazine, wrote the book The Compound Effect. The Compound Effect is the “principle of
reaping huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices…These small changes
offer little or no immediate results, no big win, no obvious I-told-you-so
payoff. So why bother? What most people don’t realize is that the small,
seemingly insignificant steps completed consistently over time will create a
radical difference.” Once again…it’s all
about the choices we make. Choices are
at the root of everything we do and therefore, our results. “You didn’t intend
to sabotage yourself, but by not thinking about your decisions –
weighing the risks and potential outcomes – you found yourself facing
unintended consequences.” We don’t intend to get “out of shape” or become
obese, “but often (if not always) those consequences are the result of a series
of small, poor choices.”
So if our health is a key component to how we live our
life what do we do if we find ourselves with aches and pains, not as flexible, and
not being able to keep up with the kids/grand kids? Yes, we’re back to that key word again…CHOICE. Jon and I have been working out for many
years using a variety of programs. Each
seemed to have its benefits, and we enjoyed them. Recently, however, we were watching a PBS
program on Aging Backwards also known as Essentrics. As it turns out, it’s also the program our
nephew’s wife, Jenny, had told us about a while ago, but we didn’t pursue it. She
is a fitness trainer using this approach and has people in her class ages
20-80+. Because we have worked out,
Jenny suggested we try the Classical Stretch CD which has 30 different workouts
lasting 23 minutes each. Each workout
targets different areas. Jon and I have
now focused three days a week to doing these workouts. They are totally different than anything we
have done before, and we’re finding great results.
Here’s an excerpt from some of the information about
Aging Backwards:
DID YOU KNOW... THAT WE CAN CHOOSE HOW WE
WANT TO AGE?
The human body is
designed to remain pain-free, energetic and healthy throughout its lifespan. With Aging
Backwards—gone are the days when we had to accept the negative consequences
of aging as inevitable and a “normal” part of getting older. In reality, we
should never have to surrender helplessly to chronic pain, hip and knee
replacements, loss of energy and mobility, poor posture, weight gain—regardless
of our chronological years. Most of us are unaware that the process of aging is
triggered by cell death. In Aging Backwards,
Miranda explains how you can slow down and reverse the speed in which your
cells die—showing scientifically, how anyone can stay feeling young and vibrant
their entire life!
Everyone, no matter
their age—can benefit from the breakthrough knowledge and advice provided in Aging
Backwards .It’s never too late to take control of your body and never let
aging get in your way!
Check out these websites
for more information:
It doesn’t matter if you’ve
never worked out or you have a regular workout routine; it doesn’t matter if
you’re in your 20’s or in your 70’s; it doesn’t matter if you’re a professional
athlete or just a weekend hiker, biker; it doesn’t matter if you are 100 pounds
overweight, need to lose a couple pounds, or you don’t have a weight issue,
this is a program that will make an impact on your health from the first time
you do one of the 23 minute CD’s.
Thanks, Jenny for bringing this to our attention!!
CHOICE. Choose a program that you
will stick to. Choose a program that you will see results no matter your age or
physical fitness level. There are many
different programs available. Aging Backwards/Essentrics
is one to definitely consider adding to your regiment or starting a new
commitment to your health.
I wish you a week of
choosing health as your number one priority for the rest of your life!
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