I swear in public. I swerve on the freeway. I listen to angry music. I eat healthy food. I dream of grand ideas far too late at night. I sleep on the floor. I hoot at beggars. I use large words when I talk. This is working for me.
Long ago I banished the Mr Perfect badge. I’m open and honest as I can possibly be. I’ve started to learn that being covert, and tucking away your intentions leads to a very complicated meltdown. For example, if I’m angry or frustrated I will go and listen to some death metal on my iPod. The sheer power and menace of the instruments will bring me down to the emotion consistency of a row boat, rocking this way and that on the subtle expanse of the unconscious.
Anger is important. It’s a by-product of venerability and perhaps even tenderness. More importantly, anger has a place if you have the EQ (not to mention the tenacity) to manage it sufficiently. Like everyone else I become angry, depressed, mournful, melodramatic, disdainful, sulky, cantankerous and grumpy. That’s ok. I handle it.
At the end of the day I am still functioning, I leave work feeling calm and collected. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may have noticed that a while back in the post (The banishments of inner vagrants) I mentioned I was completely giving up alcohol for three months. That was my initial stance born from a bad experience.
It took an entire month of will power until I allowed beer to slowly trickle down my throat. Did I feel guilty? Of course…however a good friend of mine made me come to the realization that I had made a blind judgement call. Instead I’ve made it my mission to sort out two crucial things I’ve been neglecting. My diet and my health.
Yes folks, I’m pounding down rabbit food, crushing waves of lettuce and snacking purely on nuts and fruit during the day. In the morning and evening I have a more balanced meal, but for the most part I’m turning the corner nutritionally.
This probably takes far more courage than teetotaling in my world. All those fresh loaves of bread lined up like new born children, simply have to remain that way. The super sugary treats at the bakery I simply have to pass. In simple terms it’s sometimes like holding in a mass pee. Trying to restrain yourself takes commitment and time.
Let me put the healthy-living in a simple way. Many of us want to feel alive, fresh, exuberant, energetic and brimming with excitement. Few of us do. We end up stressed, worn-out, hagged, mournful, and down-right dreary. I’ve thought of a very simple way to solve this. If you want to feel fresh, eat naturally fresh food. Not a “fresh” donut or a “fresh ice cream” but rather something vegetable/fruit/nuts/legume orientated. That will make the difference. Again, don’t do it once in the evening, and consider that this is your total amount of input. That’s like eating broccoli to avoid sugar but then chugging a diet coke a few hours later.
If I were to reduce this to a step 1…2…3… scenario. This is how I’d put it.
- Drink water (1-2 Liters)
- Eat naturally fresh as often as possible.
- Avoid processed sugar and high GI/high carbohydrate foods (such as white bread).
- Wait for your body to detox for 2-3 weeks, and then begin exercising.
NOTE: I haven’t mentioned meat on this post just yet. I’m giving the non-vegan/vegetarian approach. So I would suggest that if you cannot live without a slab of meat, restrict it to either chicken or fish. Red-meat takes longer to digest and will drain your energy resources.
Why do I write this?
This is partly thanks to my father who introduced healthy living in a simple and approachable way. You can read his blog here. Of course my own thinking and tenacity does play a small role too.
PhilosopherPoet
