August 2006

I’ve always found that when I’m feeling down - there’s only one thing left for me to do….and that’s get up! Literally.

There’s something very helpful, mentally and emotionally, about exercising. It lifts your spirits, your mood, your outlook and (as a bonus) rewards you with better health. I’ve told the story before, on this blog, of how a job offer for my husband led my family to move FROM a beach house on Pensacola Beach TO Earlington, Kentucky (Find that on a map!) I won’t even go into how down I was - I missed the dolphins, seagulls, stingrays, waves, shells, seafood, and most of all the pelicans. Even though we are Kentuckians, and we were actually just coming home - It was one of the lowest points of my life.

Sitting around thinking and looking at pictures certainly wasn’t the answer! I started walking twice a day and my daughters and I took up tennis. It wasn’t long before Iwas my normal self again. The increased activity pulled me out of my funk and allowed me to look around at just how awesome Kentucky is. Even if there aren’t any pelicans.

I also dropped two sizes!

Yesterday I read an article that made me think about all of that - it’s about Depression/Anxiety and Exercise. It tells how exercise can ease the symptoms of depression. Now, I don’t think for a minute that I was full-blown depressed. I’ve seen people who are suffering from depression, and I was nowhere near there. I just had a bad case of the Beach Blues - but the fact is that exercise helped me “ride out” the wave….er, so to speak.

If you’re down, depressed, worried, anxious, or stressed - give exercise a try. Take up walking, golf, tennis, swimming, or aerobics. OR, just turn the music up loud and dance around the house for 30 minutes each day. Start today, continue tomorrow, and keep after it for a couple of weeks. By then, you’ll feel so much better you won’t ever want to stop. Exercise releases the “feel goods” and they’re addictive. Personally, I think that’s one of the reasons people get what we call the “Winter Blues” - not only is the lack of sunlight a factor, but the lack of activity as well.

This is when blasting your favorite music and dancing for your cat should come into play. My cats are partial to Def Leppard - they’re all about the rock and addicted to the roll.

Make each move count double!
~Joi

technorati tags: exercise, mentalfitness, endorphins, fitness, stress, anxiety, depression, blues

Disclaimer: This one has my name written all over it!

It’s no secret that we’re busier today than ever before. As annoying as that “Git er done!” can be, it just may sum up the day in which we live. Everything’s so bleeping expensive, we have to work longer than before just to buy the necessities. Want more than that? You’d better be willing to put in more than 8 hours.

Then, if you have a spouse, children, home, pets, elderly parents, etc - you don’t work on the clock, you work around the clock. My state of perpetual business struck me the other day when my husband said, “When you get a free moment, you might want to…” - the words trailed off there, as I was trying to remember what a free moment was. I was kind of surprised he even knew the phrase - he must’ve heard it somewhere.

A maddening side-effect of business is “less available memory.” When we’re tied up, mentally and physically, in our work - we’re much less likely to remember whatever we’re told. This leads to the, “Are you SURE you told me to pick up your shirt at the cleaners?” Then, if we’re really lucky, we’ll make a total spectacle out of ourselves by saying, “You must have told somebody else.” Who else?!

When our minds get totally wrapped up in a particular task or worry, memories (and learning) have to fight for our attention - and, often, unless they’re accompanied by fireworks and a marching band, they lose. It’d be really easy to say, “Step back from your business and realize that you’re overdoing it….. You don’t have to work so much…. Life’s meant to be enjoyed, not just worked through…” and if I was a really good self help blogger, that’s where I’d leave it.

But, alas, I’m woefully human - and I know that sometimes you have to work 10 hour days because that’s what life has handed you. Yes, you should grab as much quiet time and recreation as possible (for mental as well as physical fitness), but sometimes it is what it is. When this is the case, the answer’s pretty simple - in fact it’s black and white. Or blue and white, depending upon your color of ink.

If you recognize yourself in this post, go out today and buy a great looking little notebook and a hot pen. Then keep them both well within reach. Write down even the thing your absolutely 100 percent certain you’ll remember. Leave nothing to chance, because chance bites the busy person right on the butt…each and every time.

Make each moment count double (and write it down!),
~Joi

The Great Notebook and Hot Pen are from Office Depot….One of my favoritest places around!