That's my youngest son doing his best Flying Wallenda imitation near our house. With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I had planned on writing something about all of the things I have to be thankful for...and there's a lot...but instead I'd like to talk about balance and keeping things simple.
For the past year or so, I've been on a quest of sorts to get fit and improve my health. I started this blog to write about it, acting more or less as an online journal, a place for me to think out loud, comments invited and always welcomed.
I added Thai boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the Aikido I had practiced for the past twenty years to add to my martial arts exposure. I adopted Craig Ballantyne and Jon LeTocq as serious exercise mentors with a bit of Alwyn Cosgrove thrown in for good measure. I studied briefly with RKC Sandy Sommer on how to do kettlebell swings and presses, a wonderful experience which opened up my mind to training possibilities beyond the gym and the squat rack.
Most recently, I read "The Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sisson, advocating the ways of "Grok", his primal archetype, and how he most likely got his exercise trying to survive each day. (Terrific book, by the way...Mark will definitely shake up your thinking...)
What does any of this have to do with "balance"?
We spend so much time trying to "get it right", doing this and doing that...sometimes we lose our balance. We stumble, we slip, we doubt ourselves...we want faster results, we want better results, we want results now.
And sometimes...our bodies betray us. They ache, they get injured, they get sick.
And that's just regarding getting fit and improving our overall health. Our relationships, our jobs, our families...that's another whole universe of living in balance.
We need to just keep it simple and find the balance in our lives.
Whatever that balance is.
Andy at http://findingmymotivation.blogspot.com/ wrote a post on keeping it simple, which was what got me thinking about this...(check it out when you get a chance)
Andy says: " No need to complicate matters by overdoing things..." He also says: " Don't always try to run yourself down to the ground each day. Your body will thank you so much for it with positive returns..."
I coudn't agree more, Andy.
This Thanksgiving be thankful for all that you have and try to find the balance in your life that keeps you from stumbling.
Keep it simple: Make your own luck, don't eat junk, exercise often but don't overdo it, hug your loved ones, hug yourself.
Balance.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Stay tuned for more to come.
F.
