Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Habitude of Gratitude (Four)



 Habitude* Four
Gratitudes and Successes
*Habitude.
French for habit.
I like to think of it more as a hybrid of the words Habit and Attitude...
or the not-so-secret formula for my future success!
 

I don't think
nearly enough people believe in or are even aware of the power of gratitude.  We are raised in a society where little focus is given to teaching our children about the power of positive thinking, the power of following your passion, the power of helping one another, and the power of forgiveness and gratitude. It takes no more energy to say a nice word, than it does to say a nasty one. And if you've ever been on the receiving end of either of these, I'm pretty sure I know which one you'd be happier to receive.  Apparently it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. So save a few wrinkles and give that upside down frown a workout :-)


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Habitude Three Walk Thee

Habitude Three ~ Walking
and Incidental Exercise

I'm pretty sure this is a snap shot of me (in my dreams)
Alright, maybe in one of my lifetimes I would like it to look like me.
I think if I squint really hard, turn my head to the side, it could pass for the me I want to be :-)



‘What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.’ ~C. S. Lewis


Walking.
The underrated relative of running.  The quiet achiever.  Think Jonathan LaPaglia, younger brother of the more successful Anthony. Or one of the 'other' Baldwin brothers.  Equally as productive and successful, without all the bells and whistles.  Running might get all the glorified media attention; the four hour Saturday Iron Man broadcast, the full page newspaper ads about an upcoming Mother's Day Running Classic, the star studded attention at the olympics even. Pointing the finger at the glitz and glamour sprinters Usain Bolt and Florence Griffith-Joyner types.  All the while poor underestimated walking gets mocked as a fake and funny looking sport.  Yeap, that is walking. (but it is rather funny looking when done at a professional gait.) 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Habitude Two - Get your Om On

Habitude Two ~ Meditation



Put simply.
Meditation can be one powerful ally.  What may at first look suspiciously like nothing, holds incredibly strong and dynamic opportunities.  And as luck would have it, any idiot can do it (meaning, if I can do it, anyone can!) 


Allow me to explain
the 'looks suspiciously like nothing' statement above. Although you are sitting quietly, not actively being physical, not multi-tasking any number of activities, not running a marathon or doing complicated mathematical equations in your head; it can take the novice (or the highly wired) a wee while to feel comfortable sitting quietly.  Often an anxious brain makes for a jittery and busy mind. You may find when you try to sit in peace, allowing thoughts to gently come and go; that initially it feels like someone has built a freeway in your mind and that you may never find nirvana.


Monday, July 16, 2012

Habitude One - H2O

Habitude One ~ Water

You may remember I wrote about Habitude One here.

Water is truly a gift of life.
Literally. We know that we can survive without food for a few days if we're lost in a forest, but without water...yikes, that's not a happy ending.  Having made it through my 'nanna bladder' phase where I basically camped out in front of the toilet for 3 days, I got to a great stage where I not only could drink water without needing to go piddle, but I was actually craving it. I CHOSE (yes, you read that right) water over Coca-Cola several times...and the sky didn't cave in. I'm pretty certain Coke's share price took a huge nose dive those few weeks!

Fell off the Wagon. Back on the Horse



If you've been playing along at home, you'll know that habitude is my new word for the new 'habits' and 'attitudes' that I am adding to my lifestyle. Six in fact. Each week.

Hi!
How is it possible that this much time has passed?  I have sat down to write this post about half a dozen times this past few weeks. Because there is sooooo much to say, I get part way through and decide I can't post an unfinished product.  This is obviously not acceptable! I'm sure people have been losing sleep wondering how my habitude experiment is going. ;-)  I do apologise if you have been waiting to read more.  I will try to write smaller posts (perhaps blogging about one habitude per day might be a better fit for me?) I won't know until I try, I suppose.