Category Archives: Values

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Variety is the Spice of Life

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variety is the spice of lifeThis is a “no brainer” when we’re just making conversation. But what about when it has to do with our own lives? Oops…when we actually have to embrace the concept – no matter what the changes may be – it’s not so easy.

Now I’m not talking about plain old variety but often the forced kind of variety. Case in point – when someone is no longer able to perform a hobby or even a job because of an illness or injury, they then have to switch to some other activity or job. It becomes very awkward and is often met with resistance IF the person has not had other activities to at least dabble in while they were so immersed in the thing they love to do.

I guess this phrase goes along with the “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” theory too. If all your eggs are in one place and that basket is dropped or crushed, you’re left with nothing. So, for the sake of your future, it’s wise to find other things to occupy your time and life.  Otherwise you end up depressed and worried about trying to get into a new activity when you’ve never even thought about it.

Variety also helps keep you from being burned out. This applies to both work and play events. The more variety you have in each area of your life, the more you mind can engage different parts of your brain and raise your endorphins.  That gives you a lift in all parts of your life. In addition, it keeps you busy and that is always useful for keeping you excited about life.

In order to prevent being caught without something to do in your life, start spreading your wings and become interested in different things in your life. This will keep you from being totally derailed if anything happens that throws you off your game for awhile (or even permanently).

Take an inventory and see how narrow your life is or isn’t. Are there areas you want to or should broaden. Is your life just focused on one thing. For example, my life was all medicine when I was younger. If anything had happened that would have removed me from that field, I have no idea what would have happened to me. I would have been in a great state of despair. Fortunately, nothing happened and I learned to extend my interests. And after many years, I also developed other interests other than my primary one of running. This was beneficial since I have been out of running now for nearly 4 months and would have gone stark raving mad had there been nothing else in my life.

Take a look at your life and figure out what else you might be interested in! You won’t regret it.

Terrie

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Success vs Skepticism

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did so If you’ve been following the Diana Nyad story (which you probably have if you’ve been reading the blog) you’ll know that now all the skeptics are out in full force. I’m short on time this morning but wanted to bring this up because often times people are afraid of success and I think that the ambush by skeptics is one of the reasons they are afraid. You put yourself out there, training (whether it’s for a sport or for anything in life), preparing and then competing and when you do achieve something great, people start to come after you – they may or may not allow you to have a moment of glory but then they start to dissect every little bit of what’s happened.

I think that Lance Armstrong has saddled us with having to put up with this behavior for a long time to come and I was an avid denier and supporter of his until the “Proof” came out and then I was crushed. So, who do we believe and when do we stop going after the “truth”. Well, I still prefer to believe that people are basically honest, good and forthright in their assertions based on their past behavior.

I realize that the areas that these “experts” are concerned about with Diana have valid points but I believe in her integrity and honesty until it’s been proven otherwise.

You have to know in your  heart whether you achieved what you said you did in an honest manner or not. Did you cut off a mile here or a mile there? Did you get someone to help you with a project you then said you did all by yourself (I remember when I was in high school I got a bad grade on a Latin project – I made a replica of the Coliseum – because the teacher said my father helped me and he did NOT)? Is what you said really what happened. That’s all you need to do in life. Tell the truth. Remember that it’s always easier to tell the truth repeatedly than to remember all the details of a lie you told.

You still have to step out there and try to achieve something great (your “Nyad”) and know in your heart that you did it and that other folks will come out of the woodwork like roaches to try to knock you down. So part of your training should be preparing yourself for this part of success and how you might handle the naysayers.

You know what? I know Diana swam a whole hell of a lot more than any other 64 year old so she’s still my hero even if they are upset because of how she put on the gear etc. That’s NOT all that this event was about. What bothers me most is that the skeptics may be deterring all the wonderful good that Diana did to inspire people of all ages to get off their butts and do something whether it’s physical or not – just do what you feel you need to do! There are always lessons for us to learn and there may be more here to come but hold on to what you know is right inside of you and you’ll be fine.

Have a great day!

Terrie