Looking Back for Gratitude

Life can be so interesting, sometimes a bit crazy, and yet, still somewhat logical. However, when we look back at something that happened to us, our views can change over that time into something quite different, something that doesn’t seem all that logical but really isn’t all that crazy either.

I sure learned that recently. A week ago, I was walking in front of my house and, suddenly, I slipped on a wet spot and went down very hard. It was so hard and painful that l couldn’t stand up. Oh, the pain!

I kept trying to stand but just couldn’t get up. Fortunately,  I had my cell phone which I struggled to get out of my pocket. That caused even more pain. Finally, I got the phone out and called my wife who was in the house. She came out immediately and then struggled to help me get up. With her help I managed, but it wasn’t easy.  We went into the house, but the pain wasn’t going away, so Kimberly rushed me to the hospital where x-rays showed that I had cracked 4 or 5 ribs. They sent me home with pain pills but for more than a week now, the pain has interfered with so many things in my life.

One big lesson I was reminded of, again, since I’ve had similar upsetting events happen in recent years, is that we all should take time to appreciate the many things we have to be grateful for in our lives. I have many things to be grateful for, but I think we all could be helped by making a list of the good, and the great, things in our life. Do this then add to the list over time as you realize all the many things that you take for granted and don’t usually think about or feel thankful for until we lose them.

Life is filled with bad stuff that happens that we don’t see coming. It’s too bad we usually don’t take time to think of all the many good things we have in our life until after bad stuff happens. And that’s what I meant by looking back and seeing things that aren’t all that logical or crazy. How do we go about not realizing all the good things we have a lot more often?

So, I made a decision that I would think about all the good things in my life and, yes, I’m going to make a list of them and add to that the many wonderful experiences I’ve had in my life. And then I’m going to review that list from time to time so I remember them and can be more grateful more often.

My challenge to you, my readers, is to think about doing the same thing—list of all the good things in your life and then review that list from time to time, adding all the great things that you experience in your life, and be grateful. Then, next time you are hit with a bad event or a negative twist in your life, go back and re-read that list of all the good things you have. I’m preaching this to you but as I do that, I’m also preaching it to myself. Now let’s go make our lists.

Unique Humans

I’m sure that you would agree that no two lives are exactly the same. The same is true with personalities, physical fitness, intelligence, disabilities, routines, etc. I have always been amazed at how all humans are so unique. Sure, many of us are very similar to other people but we are never exactly the same. I’m pretty certain if you met someone that looked exactly like you and their thinking seemed to match yours as well, you’d be immensely surprised, maybe even shocked. I’ve lived in and visited countless cities in 94 countries and, of course, in my travels I met thousands of people, but I’ve never met another person just like me!

When it comes to travel, I have to say I owe my father big time for showing me how wonderful it can be. My father and I were very different, but he introduced me to travel and all the benefits it brings to a person and pretty much their entire lives. So even though I think my father and I are different in most ways, we both certainly learned to love travel and his sharing this passion turned out to be life changing for me, in very good ways.

When I was only 15, he took the whole family to Ankara, Turkey. It was because of a job change but it was still a pretty big deal to do that. And, wow, did that change my whole life and the way I see the world, for the better. Of course, it gave me the travel bug and it introduced me to all these different cultures, which I still find very exciting. That excitement pushed me to travel, and not just occasionally. So now, not only have I visited 94 different countries, that travel bug even motivated me to plan my honeymoon as a travel-around-the-world-in-28-days trip! That’s a trip I will never forget!

I am of the belief that if all humans traveled a lot and really experienced other cultures, it would make the world safer and so much better inasmuch as we would see and understand other people’s beliefs, practices, and cultural differences, allowing us to better appreciate and accept them. I do think that today’s technology is very helpful as we can get a better sense of how people live through TV, news, and online sharing.

Sure, the news, videos and other information also show the problems and highlight the bad in people but for the most part we can see how people in so many different countries are getting along, working to make a living, taking time off to have a good time, traveling, and going to exciting events, just like we do.

I think that all this information we have access to shows us the differences in our cultures, but we also get to learn how we are alike, and that opens our minds and our views. And seeing how we are alike can help us accept and appreciate the differences between all of us unique humans.

How Muscles Help Your Weight

There is one thing that almost all people pay some attention to which is very, very important for our lives. In fact, if you pay a lot of attention to this one very important thing, you most likely will live much longer. And what is that one thing that can help give us a longer and better life? It’s a healthy weight.

Watching our weight and keeping it at the right levels usually makes our lives much more enjoyable, healthier, and longer. Thankfully, there are a lot of things we can do that can keep our weight where it should be and, wow, that can really help make for a great life.

Most kids don’t pay a lot of attention to their weight and eat everything they want. When we get a little bit older—like in our teens—we pay more attention to how we look and try to eat the right foods in order to become more active in sports or to look better. But a healthy weight is good for us, no matter our age.  

I was quite surprised when I discovered that your muscles can actually help you lose weight or keep you at a good weight. Most of us don’t realize that doing things like working out, weightlifting, and even just plain old walking can help with our weight management, not just because these burn calories but because they build muscle.

As we age, it is very common for people to stop working on their muscles all that much, at least until they come to the understanding that building or maintaining a lot of muscle helps their health big time. One of the challenges we have as we age is a loss of muscle which can contribute to gaining more fat. We lose muscle because, as we get older, our muscles wear down and that along with often being less active in our 50s, 60s, and 70s means our muscles are getting smaller and with that comes weight gain as our calories go to fat instead of being burned by muscle.

One of the best types of food we can consume to help us build muscle, get rid of a lot of fat, and control our weight is protein. There are a lot of studies that have shown that eating plenty of protein—like 25 to 30 grams first thing in the morning and then the same amount for lunch and dinner—along with lots of moving and lifting weights–will help you keep and build your muscle and burn fat. Some great, healthy foods that are high in protein include fish, chicken, lean beef, eggs, soy, beans, lentils, pumpkin seeds, nuts, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, cheese, and milk.

When it comes to exercise, you don’t have to run to burn fat or build muscle. A lot of walking and staying very active helps build muscle which helps you burn more fat. I usually walk 10,000 to 12,000 steps a day and it’s done wonders for my health. It makes me feel so good in addition to helping me maintain my ideal weight while sending more blood to the brain which helps our memory and thinking.

So, let’s all of us humans work out regularly and eat more protein so we can look forward to a longer life and a healthier body.

Re-Start Your L-Factor

Last week I started talking about the many important points in my book, How to Ignite Your Passion for Living. One of the really big ones is in the chapter entitled, “Clone Yourself with the Amazing L-Factor.” So, what is that L-Factor? It’s all about making lists!

Show me any super-successful person who has accomplished big things and I’ll show you an accomplished list maker. There is something magical that happens in our brains when we reduce our desires to a list. When we write those items down, it’s like our brains push us to act on them and won’t let us go until we do it.

Of the many specific techniques that have huge value in helping catapult a person to the top of whatever they’re going after, I have to say that list making is at, or near, the top of that list. It’s just flat-out amazing how much more enhanced your life will become and how many more dreams and goals you will be able to achieve by using lists. In addition, daily task lists or to-do lists are the key to keeping track of accomplishing all the bite-size components into which you’ve broken down your big picture goals.

For instance, a number of years back, I talked about how important that first hour of your day can be as the book, The Miracle Morning, talks about. Getting tons done in that first hour can be helped by using that L-factor as well. Just make a list, before you go to bed, of the items and tasks that you want to address in those first 60 minutes. You can break it down to six 10 minute items or four 15 minutes tasks, but no matter how you do it, making a list can, and will, greatly increase the odds of you following through on what you want to accomplish.

So, if you have gotten away from that ole list making habit, it’s probably a good time to re-start making lists in order to drive yourself to get lots of stuff done. And I don’t mean just for that first hour of the day, but make lists for everything, especially your big, huge goals, and read over your list often, checking off those items that you’ve accomplished to give you a boost by seeing how much you’ve accomplished. Then you can give yourself a nice pat on the back for getting the job done!