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Now that summer is officially over and a new season is on the horizon, I did what I usually do at this time of year--make assessments in my life. Following are some of my thoughts on how the Living PowerLife approach to happiness and health has changed me for the better. The overall theme for this post is finding Power by breaking through life-long barriers.Before I could begin to think about the full effect of the Living PowerLife approach, I had to revisit two areas of my past. First, I had to examine where I was about 3 years ago when I first came to Boston, MA. Second, I had to acknowledge the actions and decisions that brought me to such a negative point. I will not spend a great deal of energy today describing where I was and how I got there. That has been shared in previous posts. These two links are where you can read about that time: Your Living PowerLife Springboard--Spiritual and Welcome! Bienvenue!.
That established, what I have to share today falls under three categories: physical, mental, and spiritual.
Physical: I will start with the obvious. I have lost weight. How much? I do not know. Enough to need an entire new wardrobe starting with my underwear. Part of deciding to change how I feel and live includes not focusing on how much I weigh. Been there and done that.
Been there when I trotted to the doctor's office every month to stand on a scale while anxiously awaiting the pronouncement that would either label me a success--I had lost weight, or a failure--I had not. Gone are those days. Done that agonizing before deciding to eat every morsel of food. Done the psychological self-flagellation because I was not the size someone else had claimed for me. Gone are those days.
Instead, I stay in constant contact with how I feel in my body. I consider how my body functions every day when determining whether I am moving in the direction that I want. The results have been fantastic. I am stronger, have more endurance, and I am far more flexible than before.
My body has more definition because my muscle tone is better than at least 10 years ago. In a sense, I have turned back the clock through exercise, better eating/sleeping habits, removing stressful people and situations when possible, redirecting my thoughts and energy when necessary, and meditation.
Mental: Again, I will start with the obvious. My mental attitude is better than it has been for at least 20 years. I can give you an example. Recently, my computer got a virus, AGAIN, that completely wiped out my hard drive. Even my tech guy who fixes computers for a living said what happened to my computer was ''weired''.
Now, I could very easily have gone down a self-defeating path of blame, anger, and pity. In fact, I am almost sure that I would have done so in the past. This time though, I made the conscious choice to focus only on what I could do. The results are I know even more about computers. Now, instead of having one, I will soon have access to three computers when everything is complete.
My mental attitude is crucial to being able to get and maintain focus while working out. I am an extrovert to the core. I love being around people, and get energized by engaging with people. This has often been my downfall in the past because I became distracted by what other people were thinking or doing too easily. I became engaged with other people too quickly.
While I am still the ultimate extrovert, I have learned how to manage my inclination better. I am no longer distracted as much by the presence of others, and this frees more time and energy to focus on myself and what I need to do. The results are that I break new weightlifting barriers every month or so and I currently lift more weight than I did in my 30's.
Spiritually: This aspect is less easy to describe. My spirituality is the most private part of my life. My spirituality is also what grounds me and is how I get and maintain a positive outlook. For decades my spiritual life has been enriched through focused meditation (to be covered this fall), dream interpretation, and prayer. The difference now is that, through following the Living PowerLife approach to health, I no longer have the need to be accepted by a religious group.
My spiritual connection is not determined by others. My spiritual connection is determined by how I develop my relationship with God and the Universe. Coming to this realization is nothing short of a miracle in my life. You see, as far back as I can remember, I have struggled with being accepted by some religious group or another.
As far back as I can remember, I have been told that I was not good enough by religion. Not searching for inclusion has allowed me to redirect the energy that I was wasting on trying to be where I did not need to be, and use it to fully explore my spiritual life, code of ethics, and relationship to the rest of creation.
In summary, while there are particulars in my life that I would like to improve (a larger bank account, for instance), I feel very good about the direction my life is heading, and look forward to my favorite time of year--fall.
From my PowerLife to yours,
Elandus
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