One goal of space exploration is to find the six elements of life. Finding them, as we have on Mars, is evidence that life as we know it 
could exist there. It doesn’t mean it is there, only that it is possible. What a great filter to explore with!
Routines Versus Ruts
The idea for this article started gelling one morning when my brain was working on changing one of my sleeping habits — while I was 
sleeping. I know, I should have been sleeping, but working to create the new habit was important, and that effort lead me to think the role habits play in our lives and how habits are formed.
The Importance of Language in Growth
Your mind has three levels: Conscious, Pre-conscious, and Unconscious. Where do you spend most of your time? Hopefully In the 
conscious level. Let’s check it out.
When you are taking control of your life and in charge, you are in the Conscious level of your mind. This is the level where high performers spend the majority of their time. This is where living happens. This is where growth happens.
ADD Crutches
I wrote an article a couple of weeks ago about the various kinds of crutches people can use to get through life — using behavior like the cast you’d put on a broken limb. Just as you have to remove the cast from the limb and strengthen your muscles, you have to remove the emotional casts so you can be a contributing person.
The “You” Show
The videos shot in the last week of May addressed how you cast yourself in your life. They addressed how proactive you are in your life and the way you play your role. How do you cast your life?
An analogy I’ve come up with for how we deal with our lives is how we deal with our body parts when they get weak. Casts support your body when you break a bone. Orthotics are devices that support your body when, for this discussion, you get a weak joint. When is that support enough and when is it too much? The attitudes we develop and maintain in our lives may be like the casts and orthotics; when are they enough and when are they too much?
Observing discussions on the Camino forums I see that everyone has a different idea about what the right footwear is and whether walking poles (or sticks) are important to use or not. People are as passionate about what’s right on their feet. And they often think that’s what right for them is right for everyone. Those beliefs most likely roll over onto how they live their lives, too.
I’m no different, I guess. I believe in being as support-free as I can be. I cherish my independence. I take pride in my strength. I also am learning to ask for help when the situation is bigger than I am, to get support. One question I have for myself is Do I ignore support when I should accept or seek it? Hhhmmmm……
Do you seek support when things are rough or you’re feeling weak, or do you seek to build the “weak muscles” so you don’t need support? That’s not to say all support is bad or unnecessary, it’s the way you approach it and use it that makes it healthy or a crutch.
For me, I walk without arch supports, high top boots for ankle support, and walking poles. It’s my belief that by going barefoot and without arch orthotics I have strong arches and don’t need support. In fact, I feel that if I were to wear an arch orthotic my arches would weaken and I’d start to need the support. I’m independent and don’t want to “need” anything. My attitude about ankle support to my attitude about my arches is similar, not to mention my ankles don’t like rigid things to rub against and get raw or blistered. Walking poles they are foreign to me. I’ve walked long distance for years without poles so they seem a burden. I can see that on steep inclines they might be nice for extra support, or after a really long day of walking when you are getting tired poles might be nice for extra stability. But, other than that, they seem like something to inhibit my natural arm swing one more thing to keep track of.
For those who have rarely run barefoot and have long worn arch supports, going without is painful. That’s probably the same with their ankle support and use of poles too; the more support the better. Would their physiology be better in the long run if they strengthened their muscles, ligaments and tendons? In my opinionated and biased perspective I think they would be better off with a stronger body. There are some reasons beyond being weak from lack of use that demand support. But even then, if you don’t use it you lose it.
That’s true of our emotions and psychology too. We can use supports to get through situations or we can build those “muscles” and learn to manage on our own.
The kind of support I see people rely on emotionally include anger or hate, alcohol or drugs, laughter, tears, walls, resistance, pity-parties, and sarcasm. There are lots of ways people handle emotional situations that may help them get through the situation, but those approaches may not serve the people in the long run. Those approaches don’t help people build their “emotional muscles”.
Here are the last five videos of my 40-day Facebook Live Stream challenge that discuss some of the ways you might support or hinder growth.
How do you cast yourself in The “You Show”? [An afterthought to the idea of how we use crutches — or casts — to protect ourselves, to hide from ourselves. I see it in everyone, and I’m seeing it in slightly different ways within the ADD community. ADD Crutches]
The Bumps and Dips Along Your Path:
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Read & View: The Bumps and Dips Along Your Path
It’s Too Hard!
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Read & View: It’s Too Hard!
Lessons From My 10-Day Detox Challenge
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Read and view: Lessons From My 10-Day Detox Challenge
It’s A Lifestyle
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Read & View: It’s A Lifestyle
Walkin’ On
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Read & View: Walkin’ On
Walkin’ On
Walking is my theme these days as I train for my “little jaunt” this fall. So today I want to talk about walking On, In, and To.
Walking On
Dr Loeffler, my geography professor, always said that you don’t really know a place until you’ve walked the land. I knew he was right but it seemed crazy to me at the time. Since I heard him say that back in about 1973 I’ve learned first hand how right he was.
It’s A Lifestyle
Discovering the Primal Blueprint introduced me to the concept of having a lifestyle of clean eating, frequent and regular movement, lots of sleep, and good social time rather than a diet, an exercise program, sleeping some, and spotty time with friends. I found that shift in thinking valuable for living a better life.
Lessons From My 10-Day Detox Challenge
My journey to even healthier eating really got started in late 2011 when I discovered Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint. Mark taught me that a healthy approach to life is as a lifestyle not a collection of programs. Since then I have found several others who have what seem to me to be logical, down-to-earth approaches to diet, exercise, and sleeping. Dr Mark Hyman is one such person.
When Dr Hyman announced his 10-Day Detox Challenge I signed up. I felt I already ate a pretty toxic-free diet but knew I’d learn something new. And I did! The foods he had us ban from our diets weren’t that much different from the foods I tend to avoid anyway — sugar, grains, legumes, and dairy. He also had us avoid high-glycemic and starchy foods. Ok, that’s a bit different so I was curious to see what difference that would make.
Ten days of clean eating gave me more energy and better, deeper sleep. I already had a 30-minute per day exercise program and lots of walking so that wasn’t a stretch for me. The lesson was that during the three-day class I attended in the middle of the Challenge I wasn’t able to do my exercise program and that’s when I appreciated the value and wisdom of exercise in living a healthy life. Without the exercise I was a bit stiffer and less focused. With the exercise I had better focus and clarity and limberness. Those little annoying body “issues” were absent during my 10 days.
When you participate in a Challenge like this one you tend to be thinking about food in a different way so food is on your mind more. Not in the the starved-human way but in the what-eating-habits-are-others-following-right-now way. I’m aware of how much sugar people eat in general but I was hyper aware of it during the class I attended. The amount of sugary drinks, bread-centric foods, and unhealthy snacks consumed was astounding! And then there was the ice cream social with whipped cream, hot fudge and caramel sauces, sprinkles, nuts, and even cherries. The smell of the sugary treats made my brain sit up and demand to have some while my taste buds were shuddering at the thought of that stuff in my mouth. The taste buds won, fortunately. Toxic food really does play a big role in our lives.
That experience was underlined when this thought came across my computer screen to get me to think a bit more on the subject:
When we remove diversion of food, we open ourselves up to an opportunity for deeper healing. Feelings that were covered up by food come to the surface and we deal with the root causes behind them.
Food became an adventure for me. It brought my husband and me together for dinner together every night, something we’d slipped away from because of busy schedules. We found fun ways to prepare the foods we love that were on the approved foods list in new ways to make them more interesting. And I found several new, delicious smoothy recipes for my breakfasts.
Day Eleven. I went on a food binge! I was eating “approved” foods, but in mass quantities. I recognized a pattern I have, two actually. When I restrict myself when doing diets or challenges I “reward” myself at the end with a feast. And that feast is consumed in my chain-eating style; as I swallow one bite the next one goes in. Not good.
I also learned that I can’t eat sweet foods, even sweetened with dates, because that short-circuits my control. Sweet foods are a bad idea for me, at least for now. I’ll be curious to learn if down the road that goes away as I continue to eat non-toxic foods.
Because I slipped on Day 11 I’m repeating the 10-Day Detox Plan and then going on to the Transition phase. It’s going to be fun and interesting.
Even if you think you eat and exercise healthfully and are healthy, I challenge you to do a 10-Day Detox Challenge of your own so you can witness first hand how your body feels. Then you can decide for yourself how you want your lifestyle to look and feel.
It’s Too Hard!
It’s human nature to resist change. But…life is change. And one form of change is learning new things, things like information, habits, actions, attitudes, and behaviors. That learning pushes your envelope, your limits sometimes, and even your comfort zone.
The Bumps and Dips Along Your Path
Road signs help us navigate our trip — our journey. Signs like Stop, Yield, Curve or Sharp Curve, Slow Children Playing, Deer Crossing, Dead End, Detour, Speed Limits, Bump, and Dip help you adjust your driving.
It’s the Bump and Dip signs I want to talk about. They jar you the most and without doing much damage to you or anyone else. You know what road signs on streets and highways look like. How well do you heed them?