Let’s go… Slaho!

I talked about the five things that we need to work on daily to become a complete person.  We must work on our physical intellectual, creative, and spiritual aspects so that we can be healthy in all facets of our life.  So the argument comes.  When will I find the time to do all these things.  We all live in very hectic times when we have little time to do more than what we are already required to do to survive.  That’s what we’ve all been conditioned to believe by our society.  We don’t need to watch two or three hours of television.  We don’t need to surf the internet for hours at a time.  We don’t need to talk on the phone for long periods of time.  We allow these things (and others) to consume our time, only to find that we have little time left.
In order to do these things we simply must separate one hour of time each day.  I don’t mean one hour of time for each activity.  I mean one total hour of time.  If we can separate this one hour, whether it be at 6am before going to work, right when we get home from work, or maybe the last hour or so before going to bed, we will be able to accomplish these 4 small goals daily.  What we need to be aware of is this.  We are not looking to make drastic changes in our being all at once.  We just want to create habits and consistency.  A short period of time doing these activities will help one develop this consistency.
I personally like to give myself time around 10:00pm.  I happen to be a night owl, so this works for me.  Yes, I do have time to do it earlier in the day, but this is when I feel like I’ll have the fewest distractions.  Now, giving myself one hour, this is one way I can break up my time.
For 15 minutes I can read something informational or work on something that will stimulate my brain.  A writer would read a novel, maybe.  A mathematician may go over problems.  An architect may read a professional magazine concerning architecture, and so on.  I like to do cross sums and crossword puzzles.  They open my mind to words and numbers, the very things that I enjoy manipulating and that i think will help me create. 
After about 15 minutes, I can sit in fromt of the computer and type whatever comes into my mind.  In the beginning this may be very difficult, but persistence will produce results.  If all you can spit out in 15 minutes is one word or one sentence, so be it.  Let that be the starting point for tomorrow.  I like to type, but someone else may like to draw, or pull out a guitar and compose.  Whatever gets you creating something new. 
At this point, I would probably go for a jog.  My jogs are normally about 20 minutes long, and between 2 and 2 1/2 miles.  This will get me woeking on my physical state.  It’s amazing how a little running every day gives you more energy to work the following day.  Somebody else may want to do a light workout with weights or do a cardio workout with a video. 
When I get home, I will wind down.  While I am doing this I can sit down with a tall glass of water and I can reflect on the day.  Sometimes I need to catch my breath first, but once I do so, I can clear my mind of everything and just focus on me, and what I’d accomplished that day.  And as I mentioned before, I like to do this in the form of prayer. 
One hour.  Maybe a little more, maybe a little less, depending on what you decide to stress more on that given day.  There are no rules as to how to split up your time.  It just needs to be done.  One may feel that a particular aspect of his life needs more attention.  He may feel like he’s overweight and needs a little extra exercise.  Another may feel like she is not in tune with herself and wants to spend more time in reflection.  Simply put the focus where you feel it should be.  If you feel you need to give 40 minutes of that hour to reading or training your brain, then just make sure that you split up that last 20 minutes in a way that will include the other “exercises” - a quick sketch, some push-ups, and an Our Father, for instance.  Everything is covered.
In the long run, the goal is to try to give an equal amount of importance to each aspect so that you can maintain your health in all areas.  After some time, you may find yourself extending that hour and giving yourself more time.  the time exists.  We just need to make sure that we manage it well.  we also need to make sure that the things that we give up to create this time are not the things most imporatnt to us, like our family or our jobs.  Those things must come first for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean that we then neglect ourselves.  A healthy ME will no doubt reflect in my relationships both at home and at work.  So don’t deny yourself that hour.
The last suggestion I have is to gibe yourself one free dayfrom the routine.  Sometimes routines get old and tired.  By giving yourself a day off, you can rest up and be ready to start anew the following week.  Hey, if God can rest on the seventh day, then why can’t we?  We just need to make sure to promise ourselves that we will pick up where we left off that next day. 
Now, I’ll be the first to say that it is not easy to do this.  Getting started is the most difficult part.  We may do two or three of the things we should be doing and then we stop because we’re physically or mentally exhausted.  It’s just like a physical workout.  We need to pace ourselves, or we’ll burn ourselves out.  But one thing is vital.  Don’t quit, just minimize the rest of your exercises that day, then begin with a different one the next day to make sure that you’ll give it the emphasis it was denied the day before.  As I said before, only persistence will get us through.
So today i invite you to join me in beginning this program.  We will persevere together.  We will all become healthy in every way we can.  And we will become more complete people in the process.  Feel free to respond to this message to keep me up to date with your progress and I’ll do the same.  GOOD LUCK!!