Change or Die

It is intriguing to me when people make drastic changes in their lives. More interesting are those changes that we attempt to make with failure almost instantaneous. Some of the most critical of these changes are normally health related; smoking, eating and exercising. Why are the habits that we develop in these areas the hardest for mankind to break? These are appear to be the disciplines that people either most accept about themselves or struggle a lifetime against.

I read an article recently that said if you were told that you have to make lasting and enduring changes in your life or die that chances are only 9 to 1 that you would or could. A study done at John Hopkins shows those that have undergone coronary-artery bypass, that within 2 years of this major surgery, that 90% of patients have not changed their lifestyle.

These are scary statistics when you are facing mid-life and start to understand how to critical your health is to insure that your remaining time is lived to the fullest. It is this time in our lives that our wisdom would seem to come in handy for something other than expounding it down to the younger generation. But, no, in my experience, what happens more times than not, this time in our life becomes more of an 'acceptance'. This is me, too old to change, what does it matter now.

But at the same time that we are having these conclusions about ourselves, there is a nagging part of ourselves that is saying 'what could have been, what should have been.......oh well'. Too me this is the part of our thought process that we must address in order to live fully in today.

What I have learned as I have delved deeper and deeper into what facilities change is that true behavioral change is in the power of our emotions. And from our emotions we must address our basic belief system. And this is where the real challenges start. All of the facts and cognitive knowledge in the world can only go so far in assisting you in a lifestyle change. It is important to understand nutrition and study and know what quantities and types of foods that are good for you. But, in order to make that final leap from being a person on a diet to being a person with a lifestyle change is the willingness to look at your belief system.

I believe one the most important things to understand about your beliefs are they are inferences made at a certain point in your life that you no longer question. Two different people can experience the very same situations in life and come away with two different belief systems. If you ever question that statement just look at families. Most of the time children raised in the same household will come away with totally different beliefs about their childhood and their parents.

If one of your basic beliefs is that "We all die at some point", then you can maybe understand why health and fitness is probably not an area that you can really make drastic changes in your life. But to turn that belief around and decide that your belief will now be "We all should live life to our fullest potential", and you enforce thought in your mind by finding examples everyday to back it up. Then you will find it is no longer a struggle to eat and exercise right because now it becomes who you are.

Because....

This blog is my personal journal to document my search and understanding of how to make and live the life of my dreams. I read my first book on personal development in 1992 (A Return to Love). This was followed a few years later with Awaken the Giant Within. Since then I have read probably hundreds of books. But the one thing that has escaped me over the last 15 years is the ability to put what I read into practice.

I know I have steered my life in a totally different direction then it would have drifted without the accumulated knowledge that I have assimilated over the past 15 years. But, I still feel that the my true potential is awaiting me. So what you will find here going foward are my struggles, my victories, and my thoughts as I do what I believe we all try and do most days, be the best that we can be.