Month: September 2016

A little death
Without mourning
No call
No Warning

I don’t know what happened but it looks like this post somehow got deleted. Ok, it was only a parking space for the post, which it still is but none the less, somehow it vanished.

 

Never the less, lets get started.

I think it’s fair to say that I have written more than the average number of posts on the mental side of ‘working out’ than the physical side. Why is that? It’s because I think our mental state plays a large roll in whether we work out or not. It plays a roll, a strong roll in how we take care of ourselves. We can be dealing with depression or other issues and if that’s the case than not only are you trying to justify the benefit of working out but you are also fighting what comes with depression, anxiety, etc. You are fighting the urge to stay in the house all day, or stay in bed all day. We can also be dealing with strong negative influences in our life. Neither are good for us.

Another thing is you  could also be dealing with feelings of self worth, feelings of inadequacies. This could be for a number of reasons. Personally I have dealt with this for part of my life. My childhood involved a lot of tough parenting from my dad, a lot of negative feedback and little positive. My dad was being the best parent he could but things like this have a large influence on how kids see themselves at that age and as they grow.

But I think we all have influences that shape us into the person that we are and what we think we are. Those influences can be internal or external. Depending on what those influences are they can have  a large impact on us moving forward.

Looking back I have come to the following conclusion. I have never been a fan of the Tony Robins mainly because I think he takes something as personal as how we see ourselves and why we see ourselves that way and tries to make money from it. Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s not uncommon for people to do this. I think the stuff he does is just exploiting people for monetary gains. But, if we can start accepting ourselves for who we are and start to be comfortable with the fact that each of us is ok, each of us deserves to be the best we can be than that’s a good start.

It’s not an easy task by any means. Why that is I don’t know. The mind is a complicated thing. We know so very little about it.

We need to start choosing what we listen to and what we choose to ignore. We need to ignore those things that bring us down, make us feel bad about ourselves. We need to start listening to those things that elevate us, make us feel 100 feet tall! We need to be ok with ourselves when we fail. Failing is ok. Failing means you attempted it. You tried. You chose to try instead of not taking the risk. Let that be a positive instead of a negative. Try again and this time you may not fail. But don’t give up trying. When  you give up trying you give up on the chance that you will grow as a person. You will miss the chance of coming out on top. You will miss the opportunity of growing from something regardless of failure or success.

It’s not easy. The good things in life are not always easy, they can be hard. But fighting for those things and not giving up can have it’s rewards. Don’t give up on yourself. I know you and I know you are amazing and worth it. Deep down you know it too. Push aside the negative noise and listen to that voice you hear way at the bottom. The quiet voice, the voice you doubt, the one telling you you are amazing! I think it’s the quiet voice because it knows it’s right and it doesn’t need to shout. It’s confident in what is says.

Yours in health,

Darryl

 

 

…Good news they’re bringing

Exercising on a regular basis can be tough enough as it is. Trying to find the time, energy, motivation are not easy things to find. That just might be why most people don’t work out regularly. If you are someone that works out regularly, then you should feel really good about that. That is a huge accomplishment and I think we spend too much time looking at the negative things and not congratulating ourselves on the positive things we do.

But now lets throw in having to deal with chronic pain. Could be back pain, shoulder pain, joint pain, etc. How do you maintain that commitment of working out if you are nervous, depressed, or have anxiety because now you realizing that the pain is not going away and it’s possible you could be making it worse? Dealing with chronic pain, or pain that has lasted longer than 6 – 8 weeks can be demoralizing. It’s especially demoralizing when you are someone who is competitive and also train in a competitive sport, something where if you miss time or are no longer able to move as well as you did can hamper your progress.

First off what you need to do is get a professional opinion, or, opinions on what it is you are dealing with. You cannot treat something or manage something effectively until you know what it is you have to treat. Makes sense, right? Also, without a proper diagnosis you could be bringing harm to your body. Something that might not be evident until years later. Once you know what it is then you can hopefully manage it more effectively. An effective diagnosis will also help you determine the best approach to treatment, the best approach to exercising, what it is you can do and what it is you shouldn’t do. Without a proper and accurate diagnosis you might be bringing harm to your body. Knowing what it is will also allow you to seek out support of people who have the same issues and seek out their advice. I’m a big believer that it does not make sense to reinvent the wheel. If someone has already figured this out, than it can save you a huge amount of time and frustration in dealing with the issue. It just might get you back onto the road to recovery or managing your pain a lot quicker. It might also help in knowing that others are going through the same thing and that you are not alone. Sometimes that can help out a lot.

Lastly, keep active! Don’t let it defeat you. Most every ailment’s effects can be lessened by exercise. Things in motion tend to stay in motion, a rolling stone gathers no moss. It’s true. Adopt the active lifestyle and keep that lifestyle. I’ve been to Okinawa, Japan three times and have trained in martial arts with people in their 70’s and eighty’s each time. These Okinawan’s were doing the same things I was doing and it wasn’t because we were there visiting, these were normal training nights for them. Some of them were no longer able to get into deep stances like they did in their younger years, but I guess my point is they were still doing it. They didn’t resign themselves to thinking that there ‘active’ days were over, or that since they can no longer perform the way they used to that they should just stop.

We are all different, our bodies and genetics are different. There are external and eternal influences on our lives that are unique to us in some part. We cannot compare ourselves to others, that would not be fair to us. All we can do is compare ourselves to ourselves. Be honest with ourselves and ask yourself each time if you are doing the best you can do, at that time. Be realistic about it too. It’s not the easiest thing to do. It can be hard to look in that mirror and admit, accept your flaws. People think it’s a sign of weakness but I think it’s a sign of strength to admit you have faults. But once you admit those faults (I apologize if that seems too harsh of a word but it’s all I could come up with) you then open the door to accepting them and addressing them. And remember, you are like everyone else. We all have our challenges. You just can’t always see them.

Don’t give up. Find out what it is, see what you can do, seek support, you are not alone in this. And most of all, stay active.

Yours in health,

Darryl