Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Do you ever think about what an “ideal life” would look like for you? I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I’m quite fine with the life I’m living, but is it my “ideal” life?… and, for the purposes of this exercise, I’m not talking about winning a lottery and becoming a gazillionaire or anything like that, I’m talking about - as I see myself right now, what is a realistic life I could be living if I made a few changes to my lifestyle? Several things come to mind. Number one for me is health and fitness. I’m really extremely down on myself right now in this category. I feel like I’m letting myself down here big time. I eat too much, I eat too much sugar and carbs and salt, I don’t do enough cardio, my weight is way higher than I’d like it to be, and it’s all a result of my own actions. Now - what I think is an ideal situation in no way will be what you think of as ideal, so as I describe my ideal life - I don’t expect it to match anyone else, and certainly don’t care if anyone else sees it my way or understands it at all. But - to me, my ideal health and fitness regime would include running every single day at least 2 miles. It would include yoga at least 5 days a week for at least 20 minutes a day. It would include at least two days a week of weight lifting for at least an hour at a time. Also included would be at least 10 minutes of meditation every day and at least 6.5 hours of sleep every day. It would include writing three pages a day, reading 10 minutes a day, and EFT tapping on a daily basis. It would also include a healthy meal plan of some sort that peaks out around 2000 calories/day. This is just my ideal health and fitness plan, and that would be tough to do, but not unattainable. I did all of that with the exception of weight lifting, calories and amount of sleep from 2001–2002 for a streak of 292 days in a row. That streak included yoga not just 5 days a week, but every day. And when the streak ended I was in the best physical shape I’ve been in for years. At age 61. There were a couple other times in my life I went on obsessive health kicks as well. I think I had a streak where I went a couple years of running 2+ miles a day without missing a day. That streak ended and I had my weight down to where I was really feeing good. But even then I wasn’t 100% satisfied. And now I’m ok with where I’m at, but I’m also at a point where I really feel like I need to do better. On top of that, there’s a lot more to look at - my stress levels, my business, a constant feeling that I’m not doing enough to help make the world a better place, that I could be a better husband and friend and musician and maybe not be so angry all the time, and learn to relax a bit more…. Sometimes I wonder if the true pathway to happiness might be to just say fuck it all - sell and/or give away everything that isn’t necessary, cut back on how much I work, take more time for myself and our family, and rearrange my schedule into one that more closely resembles what an ideal life would look like for myself. In the past, I’ve taken a three week vacation by myself on an annual basis to really spend a lot of time making sure the rudder of my life was guiding me in the direction I wanted to go. I missed it last year, and I think I’m really feeling the need to do it this year more than ever. I’m feeling stressed and anxious more than I care to these days. Which is part of bad nutrition, right? Emotional eating. Have a Snickers or three… what the hell, make it four. And, for me anyway - I have to take time - by myself (maybe a bit of only child syndrome there, I guess) - to sit in a quiet room and think. Think about what a wonderful opportunity I have. Think about what I can do to be happier, to do better, to get in touch with God, to give more, to be the best human being I can be… always. To really feel the importance of every moment, and to make sure I’m not wasting any of them doing something counter to my own ideals. Even when you’re living a life close to your ideals, I think it pays to examine it. Life has a way of getting us out of balance. The new year is always a nice place to stop and reflect. So many choices we can make. So many lives we could live. The future will reflect the choices we make right now. So, be aware of that and create the future you’ll be proud of. The answers lie within us all if we’ll just take the time to listen.
