A Disciplined Life

Day 24 of 365 Tiny Changes

So I’m out for my walk this morning, and I’m about a minute from home and it hits me.  I mean really hits me.

I haven’t had this much clarity of thought since I was in high school.  I  ran the mile and the half mile, on our track team.  We would practice by running for what felt like eternity.  Mile after mile, step after step.  Occasionally, I would hit a wall.  Not a real one, just an “I can’t take one step more, or I’m gonna die!”, wall.  But I would keep going, because I knew what was on the other side.  The Runners High.  Woo Who! 

There is nothing better than hitting this plateau while working out.  I wasn’t running any more, I was flying!  I wasn’t counting the drudgery of each foot fall, I was keeping beat to the music playing in my head.  Absolutely, nothing better.  The best part is the clarity of thought.  It’s like the universe was revealing secrets to me for questions I didn’t even know I had.

So anyway, I’m about a minute from home, and I’m not anywhere near a runners high, but I do get one very clear answer.  An answer to a question that I have had for as long as I can remember.

The answer:  It’s all about the discipline. 

The question:  How can I lead the most successful life possible? 

It’s not a surprise really.  Most self help gurus preach this.  Every efficiency expert, I’ve ever run across, preaches this.  Even ministers preach this. 

Here’s where the clarity comes in.  It’s not just about the discipline of getting up on time every morning and doing the things on my to do list.  It’s much bigger than that. 

It’s a way of thinking, it’s a way of doing, it’s a way of living.  It’s an entire lifestyle.  A successful life is a disciplined life, a disciplined life is a successful life.

It’s not about packing as many things as I can into any one day, either.  It’s about doing those things that matter.  It’s about doing those things that lead to a bigger goal, a bigger purpose.

In my message on Day 16, Fixin’ to Get Ready, I promised to create a Life Plan for the specific areas of my life where I wanted to be successful.  I’ve decided that the first of these areas should be health.  The way I see it?  I can accomplish little else with out my health.

I’ve already mentioned, I plan to live to 102.  Though, I realize there are no guarantees of this, I believe that if I live my life as if it were guaranteed I have a much better chance of making it.

In my Life Plan for Health and Beauty, I need to undertake a “healthy” lifestyle.  I have already started making some of those needed changes:

-10 minutes of stretching, daily ( Day 6, Stretching of a Princess)
-Eat 3 servings of fresh vegetables, daily (Day 9, Accidental Vegetarian)
-Eat 2 pieces of fresh fruit, daily (Day 12, I’ll Eat 2 Pieces of Fresh Fruit, I Promise)
-Keep facial hair at bay (Day 18, Mustaches for Women)
-Sit quietly for 5 minutes (Day 19, A Day In the Life)
-10 Minutes of walking , daily, (Day 20, Does Your Doctor Really Care?)

I have mentioned my Greek heritage in the past.  What I didn’t mention is that my family comes from the Island of Ikaria.  This island has been determined to be one of 3 geographical locations on the earth where the inhabitants live the longest. 

My parents have been there.  Their description?  It’s a rock.  That’s right.  A giant rock, sticking up out of the ocean.  The residents walk everywhere, up hill, down hill, everywhere.  The life style is quiet and stress free.  My guess is they eat a lot of fish and fresh vegetables and fruits.  They live a long, long, time.

I’ve done some research on the exercising thing.  There seems to be some argument about whether it’s the length of time one exercises, or the intensity with which one exercises, that is most beneficial.  I’m thinking it is driven by the person, their initial health, and what their ultimate purpose for exercising is.

My ultimate purpose is living, healthily, to 102.   So I’m going with the, length of time one exercises, theory.  If the island people walk everywhere, and live long, long, lives, then it follows walking must be a good exercise for my purpose.

Tiny Change 24:  Walk an additional 10 minutes each day for a total of 20 minutes of walking per day.

If you have experience or thoughts you would like to share on the exercise conflict, I would love to hear from you.

Best Regards,

Linda

Tiny Blessing of the Day:  I feel blessed to have good, solid, walking shoes, with great arch support.  So many people in our world have no shoes at all.