Deep Thoughts: Why to Consider a Healthy Lifestyle Change
(The following are my personal opinions)
So after missing last weeks blog, out running a possible Category 4 hurricane, I had more time to kill than I realized.
With time to kill and a long drive my mind started wondering like usual.
Wondering about what?
In simple terms why should anyone really consider changing or adapting a healthy lifestyle. This of course spiraled into numerous other thoughts, ideas, goals, and so much more but with it it brought forward two key ideas.
These two key ideas could be considered far fetched or extremely relative, but I feel like these ideas or two view points on why to consider a healthy lifestyle change maybe the motivation, inspiration, or even key ideal someone could use to help another person in their life change or start their own change themselves.
In the fitness industry you will can go online and read anything about what fitness does, how it produces x,y,z by utilizing system A,B,C, what types of training is good for this particular outcome and so much more.
This is all good information and supper essential to the steps to change, but really, when I first started out I didn't really care about any of that. I need a reason to start, something far deeper than just "better fitness gives you more energy."
I needed a connection that would move the very corner stone of my everyday actions to purse what I seek as a healthy lifestyle. Don't get me wrong knowing what fitness does, can do, the effects it has on your mood, energy, etc.... Is super important and needs to be taken into account.
However, the two ideas I was thinking of tend to tap into that reason for survival. Putting your back against the wall and asking the very core of your being to make the decision on whether or not making a healthy lifestyle is worth the change, the everyday battle, and the long term commitment.
With that being said lets go full throttle into deep thought number one!
Ready? No? Well here it comes
Deep Thought 1: Reaping the Rewards
This particular thought is what I consider to be the one of the most pure, beautiful, and exhilarating thoughts!
Reason being is every reward you get from a healthy lifestyle change is simply just that, a reward for you based off your own hard work.
Look at everything we are taught in life, work hard, get a job, work hard at your job, get a promotion, etc. In this case you get the rewards based off of hard work you have put in and usually based off of someone else's opinion off your hard work.
Example: For a raise at a job its usually based off of some key things; your work you produce, the results of the produced work, and more times than not the bosses/ leads opinion of your work.
I don't see a problem with this for most things in life and generally this is how things go.
However, what I came to realize in a healthy lifestyle, the rewards that you obtain form the lifestyle tend to be a fact of two things..... the hard work you produce/put in and the results you see because of your own work.
So therein lies a difference!
No one has a say on your success of adopting a healthy lifestyle change except YOU!!! Sure people may have opinions but at the end of the day if you want the reward (say a better body composition) it all comes down to what you do, the steps you take, and the future steps you are willing to take.
None of those things are based off another persons opinion, if you are deserving of the reward. The simple concept but the powerful concept of: You control the outcome of your own life, shown in full effect.
For once in a life so directed by others thoughts, opinions, actions, etc.... you have total control over the way you look, feel, things you eat and you judge your actions and self based off what you deem successful.
If this doesn't make sense let me see if a visual representation will help.
In life we all have paths, structured and unstructured.
The structured path:
For example the path of school or education. This path has been used by so many others that we have no choice but to use it. It's a well defined path that is clearly marked and it takes you from one grade to another. (Education is important and you should have schooling)
However, you get to a point where you cant advance in education if you don't have these credentials. So in school you have to pass exams- based off of what someone else says is necessary information to know. The person scores your results and determines if you pass or fail.
So thus we start the cycle of waiting for another person to say yes you can advance to another stage, or yes you deserve a gold star for your work and performance, thus our rewards are based on a structured system.
Please note education was just used as an example! By no means am I saying drop out of school, etc.... certain structural paths are necessary and are greatly beneficial to you.
The unstructured path:
Now take for example you go hiking from one mountain top to another along a ridge. The path isn't always noticeable but you know to get to one mountain top to another you have to head due east.
The terrain is rocky and jagged, it looks like you are going to have to go down sometimes to go up, through some muddy patches, have some lose stones under foot, ford some creeks, etc.
No matter what though you know your general direction and you take the first step. Along the way you lose your footing and start sliding down the side of the mountain only to get caught by a root or grab a tree for stability.
The root and tree are a support system that keep you up right and help you push farther. (in fitness its your mentors,partners, trainers, coaches, teammates)
Once you reach the top of the mountain, that first gulp of air is the most refreshing ever and then all of a sudden you are hit and completely taken off guard by the view.
You see every step that brought you closer to the top but truly the most amazing thing is you look down and you see others traveling different paths, hugging different trees, trying different methods to get to the top of the mountain to share your view.
The reward, the view from the top of the mountain, is a direct result of you choosing a path and following it. Yes you had help along the way where you needed some stability.
However, your will to continue, to see the view at the top of the mountain, on the path you took to get there produced the reward based off you own hard work.
A healthy lifestyle is simply just that!
Its more of an unstructured path where the rewards are based off of your assessment and drive to be better.
In other words the reward you seek isn't because someone said you got and A on knowing the basics of arm muscles, you can start working on bicep development now.
No its more like you look in the mirror and don't see biceps but you want some. You know you have to do some type of bicep curl to get them and that's simply where you start.
Over time you change the type of curl to hit different parts of the muscle head and some curls work and others just don't produce results for you.
However, you keep going and with some time and dedication and simple steps you produce biceps. You chose the muscle to work on, you chose the moves to use, you chose the amount of dedication, and ultimately you have the biceps you once thought were impossible to get.
You are reaping the rewards directly from your hard work.
Deep Thought 2: Living to Die or Living to Live
Now the second deep thought came from the first one. Whats the true reward we are all living for?
It dawned on me, that following a structured path people are successful and eventually live a great life and fill their life with passions, people, and other items they enjoy.
At the same time, for people to enjoy those things they spend countless hours working for those particular items, people, or passions only to put their health on the back burner. When they make this substitution they actively start shortening their life.
Literally if you spend 10 hours a day behind a computer, sitting, being inactive, or even feel that you health has declined over the years, its probably safe to say you have knocked some years off your life.
Working hard to enjoy life is very awesome and its very important but at the same time think about it like this.
If you work so much that you stop taking care of your health are you truly going to live to enjoy all those things you have worked so hard to obtain thus far?
Becoming sedentary is opposite of how bodies are supposed to function. I know the more sedentary I became the larger I grew, the slower I moved, I felt sluggish, developed bad posture, and aches and pains that an average teenager shouldn't have.
So are you living to die or living to live?
I would say most people live to die... In the sense they forget or put their health on the back burner to make and work a job that they are passionate about.
If you are passionate about something you go all out for it, at the same time if you don't take a healthy stance you will actually spend less time pursing your passion because you can't keep up.
For me I want to purse my passion at all cost and spend as much time pouring everything into that passion. Therefore I'll make the time to keep and purse a healthy lifestyle so I can continue to share my experiences and passion with others.
A second way to think about this spun off on to the "future generations" of our society. I'm not a parent by any means, however if you have trouble leading a healthy lifestyle, how will the future/younger generation follow?
Scary ? Have we doomed the future generations to Living to die rather than Living to Live?
I bring this up because I have cousins that are no older than 13 and a new nephew. I fear they will fall into what has happened to society because they don't have a different reference point.
I have made it a personal goal to be that reference point and being an active individual in world that seems to have become sedentary and that's what is expected.
This goal doesn't make me unique or special, but it gives me a greater goal to continue to provide help to anyone that wants to change or convert into a healthy lifestyle.
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These two core ideas I feel like could be two powerful motivations for people helping others continue a healthy lifestyle, a person that has started by may have fallen off their goal, or someone just starting a lifestyle change.
We all have to start some where and if the reason to start has a profound shift on our core beliefs, ideals, or function then we can adhere and make a change.
Sometimes the hardest part is finding that central idea or gravity that pulls you thoughts and actions into alignment. My hope is for these thoughts to be that gravity and help someone finally take the steps to pursue a healthy lifestyle.
In anything we do we have the opportunity to change our position in everything we do. You have the power and will within you. Sometimes you just need a person to tell you or see the gap for you in order to change your position. There is nothing wrong with that but if you really think about it changing your position can save your life and allow you to take control and live your life to fuller and greater heights.
Nobody can measure your success but we can all help each other obtain our own personal success and reach our own individual goals.
-The Iron Pulse
(all images are linked back to original page)
