How To Live A Happy Life For Dummies

August 16, 2008

Every day I talk to at least one person that I cannot help at all.
Many times, fitness issues,
whether it’s an injury or an illness or
a genetic predisposition are just like speed bumps.
They make you slow down and pay attention.

Usually injuries get better or go away altogether.

But sometimes, these issues offer no easy resolution.
I feel bad throwing my hands in the air
and saying I have no clue,
but it happens.
In the end we are all responsible
for finding our own way and often
it feels like groping around in a dark closet
for something you know is there,
if only you could just SEE.

For example, I faced a situation of immobility and pain with my hip dysplasia.
I had a few options.
Continue to suffer and leave the only job I’ve ever adored.
Or have it surgically repaired and resume my now more joyous (due to freedom from pain) life.

The only catch being that I hope to live several more decades and hip replacements only tend to last a bit less than 2 decades.
So now, I could be spending my time worrying about what I will do at sixty,
when my titanium joint wears out. Or I can focus on the pleasure that I now have on a daily basis,
waking up to the lovely, humming silence of
NO PAIN.
(I’ve also asked my surgeon, whom I idolize, to delay retirement until I get any re-replacement parts installed.)
My main point is that no one could resolve my health issue but ME.
I had to make some hard decisions and live with whatever consequences resulted.
So I say that to people when they ask for my advise. “What sounds right and true for YOU?’
It’s not always easy to get an answer but you have to dig around, inside and out.

Other health situations are less clear cut.
If you read this past week about Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor diagnosis, you see he has no easy resolution ahead.
My husband experienced a similar diagnosis six years ago (this week in fact) and after reading the exhaustive amount of information about Ted’s glioma, I remembered a similar time in our lives where we looked grimly at statistics and mortality predictions.

And the most inspiring aspect of Larry’s situation (and I’m guessing Ted will be just as inspirational in his reaction to his health crisis) is that Larry has been using the knowledge of his own mortality as a gift.
He took that catastrophic diagnosis to gain perspective that he wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Although he has always been in great shape, he immediately started taking better care of himself.
He cut out the beer and got more sleep and ate better.
How many people hear the tick-tock of the clock?
Or do we just plod along day after day, moaning about minutiae?
Not Larry. He takes no day for granted.
Often he is late for things because he was rolling around on the floor with our dog.
Before nine in the morning, he has laughed harder than most people do all day long.
He strikes up conversations with four year olds on a regular basis and looks at me when I talk, which is saying A LOT.
He apologizes, which is something that used to be hard for him.
And he never passes up a chance to kiss my friends (I think this is good.)
Plus we take even better preventative care of his prostate.
More importantly, his world shifted into high definition.
He has always been a enthusiastic about life but somehow, living with his own mortality cranked the volume way up.
Is it a gift?
No serious health diagnosis is ever a blessing. But if we can all wake up to the fact that we WILL die someday and it COULD be tomorrow,
then we might start living each day,
each hour,
each moment
as they come to us, in their sparkling uniqueness.

In Buddhism, they speak of the Noble Truths.
The First Noble Truth is that there is suffering in the world. (That we know)
The second Noble Truth is cessation from suffering, meaning
There’s Hope!
So the idea of suffering is not necessarily what the situation is that you find yourself in,
but more importantly, how you relate to it.
Meaning

Life can be fabulous,
and you can still be miserable.

And on the flip side,
Life can suck and
you can still be happy.

which way do you choose?

I can help you with getting on track .
Think about where you want to be by july 4th
and we can do it together
email me at fitcouples@yahoo.com for more information on how to get started today!
Join me for 30 days of mind/body/spirit coaching!

Give me one month and I will help you develop skills to make the fitness changes you’ve always dreamed of!

starting Sunday june 1- through june 30,2008,

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via the internet, I will give you a step by step fitness

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I will also hold you accountable for achieving these goals.

Don’t wait until summer! Start this week!

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