Birds of a Feather, Part I: Small Moments of Contagious Happiness

The July Project: Day 8

Someone once told me, “Happy and successful people tend to be surrounded by other happy and successful people.” If we assume for a moment that it’s true, what are the implications? If you don’t find yourself in the company of people who are thriving, how are you supposed to get ahead?

  1. Trade in your friends for new, better ones.
  2. Keep your friends, but add a few higher-quality ones to raise the average.
  3. Concentrate on what you can do to improve your own life.
  4. Leverage your happiness and success by focusing on the well-being of the people around you.
It seems that answers C and D might be two sides of the same coin …[MORE]

July 8, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Behavior, Fitness, Habits, July 2010 Project, | 2 comments

I’d Like My Meal for Here…and to Go!

The July Project: Day 7

Nearly a week, and all I’ve managed to talk about so far is exercise. Diet is a more difficult subject to approach. Food means a lot more than sustenance, more than just the source of energy to keep the body running. Food is laden with emotional context.

We’ll come back to that context another day. Today, I’ll ease into the topic with one of the simplest weight-loss tips I can offer.

Do you eat in restaurants? I love to dine out, but restaurant portions are out of control. Restaurants seem to be engaged in a competition to see who can pile the most food on a plate. I’ve never worked in restaurant management, but I can only suppose that an economy of scale is at work here …[MORE]

July 7, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Behavior, Eating better, Food, Habits, July 2010 Project | Leave a comment

Not Everyone Will Be Supportive, But That’s Not Your Problem

The July Project: Day 6

A couple of weeks ago, I was four miles into the daily routine when I had to stop to take a stone out of my shoe. I was at the park early because I had some evening plans. It was a blistering-hot afternoon, so when I finished tying my shoe, I sat on the shaded bench for a moment, mopping sweat.

Just then, an SUV drove by, and a teenage girl hanging out the passenger-side window yelled something in my direction. All I heard was, “…get off your ass….” Any other pearls of wisdom she wanted to offer were lost as the vehicle sped away down the park road. I said out loud, “Are you talkin’ to ME?” I looked around—no one else in sight at the hottest part of the afternoon. She must have been talking to me …[MORE]

July 6, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Exercise, Fitness, July 2010 Project | 4 comments

Of Serendipity and Companions for the Journey

The July Project: Day 5

I wrote a draft blog post this morning about some social aspects of taking care of your health. I’m saving that one for another day, though, because I’d rather share the story of tonight’s trip to the park.

I was starting my walk at Memorial Park tonight when my iPod battery died. Rather than carry the useless thing for 6½ miles, I walked back to the car and threw it in the trunk. As I started again, I considered whether the dead battery might be a sufficient excuse for cutting tonight’s walk short. I rationalized the value of getting home an hour earlier, maybe getting some more work done before bedtime.

Memorial Park Houston

But when I’d walked about a mile, I ran into Gary, an old friend and a park fixture like myself. He was walking in the opposite direction, but when we met, he turned around and joined me. We walked together the rest of the way. I didn’t cut my walk short after all.

Three miles later, we got to talking about some of the other “frequent flyers.” We talked about the guy who …[MORE]

July 5, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Exercise, Fitness, July 2010 Project, | 2 comments

A Brief Meditation on the Need for Patience