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So I finish up one of my most favorite things to do on the weekends, which is to walk the path around the whole entire Lake Baldwin. I came upon a Subway to have dinner, conveniently located a block away from the lake. As I was enjoying my dinner, I spotted a father and his son a few tables down, in complete silence looking down. At first impression, I thought, maybe it’s been not a great night and the mood for conversation was absent. The boy had to be at least 10 years old, and I’ll venture to say the father must been in his early to mid forties. As I observed, I notice they both had i-pads and were consumed with whatever they were doing. In a way I felt bad for the young boy, and a little resentful towards the father. This could be a moment where this father can enjoy a conversation with his son, or maybe this is an opportunity for the son to better understand his father. What is so important in small electronics that your time is consistently absorbed with this new infatuation of small media devices that our society has incorporated into our daily lives? One thing I have learned is you only have your parents once, and that even the dull moments can have a big impact on your life years later. It seems most people nowadays have to be doing something on regular basis whether, it is checking out the latest news or playing the mindless video game to kill time, it just seems that people have lost the art of just “being”.
So I now have done so much in establishing my goals and changing my bad habits, now the questions is what is it I truly need to be happy with myself? The first thing I did was stop subscribing to extra services that I don’t use, and the first thing to go was cable. I only watch maybe two channels regularly and it seems the trend on cable is play the same show over and over till the next new episode. Look, I can only watch a show many times till you almost loose interest in the whole series all together. I thought to myself, “..I hate commercials. I spend most my time watching movies. Why pay an extra $60 for channels I don’t even watch?” Once I cut that service, I noticed many things change in my life. First, I started doing more physical activities, no TV created bordem, so I incorporated more running and walking into my daily routine. I also re-discovered the most relaxing thing in the world, which is reading. I know that may sound a little comical, but I really never took the time to just read for enjoyment. I spent more time reading text books, how-to books for my career, which involved an incredible amount of mental energy. When I read just for enjoyment, I feel myself relax more often, I’m able to almost quiet my mind and be able to focus much better on my task at hand.
In a month I dropped from 211 pounds to 191 pounds, and I didn’t even have to do a crazy exercise routine like I use to in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I also had to apply the same thought to how I eat and what I eat. My brother got me started on Weight Watchers. At first, I really didn’t know if the program would work, but it actually did. I only did the program for month, and I was pretty much on my way. What I learned is that you have to pay attention what you eat (I know it’s common sense), which is something people don’t do these days because it seems too easy to just “do”, without having to think about it. The things nutritionally I found that work, are eating foods that do more. Having a plate balance protein with equal parts starch, and good carbs (vegetable), help keep you full much longer. In turn you do not have to eat as much to feel full. I not only cut my weight, but my grocery bill as well. I recommend anyone to take a nutritional class or do some research in what foods do the most for you. As well as eating better, I have also stop eating out on a consistent basis, this also helped me cut weight and expenses, in turn, has given me a little more appreciation for cooking.
As mention before the father and son using the i-pads, bothered me, and for anyone who knows me would find that surprising. In my day job I’m a programmer, I do programming applications for the web and IT support for my company. I love my job, but even I know you have to disconnect to relax your mind. So the next thing I let go of was my Android MyTouch cell phone. When I first did this I had one of several reactions: “Are you financially alright?” “Why are you being so cheap?” or my favorite, “Is everything going okay in your life?” My answer is I never felt so focused before, and it was one less thing to worry about, this meant less stress. I like many, through the course of a day would probably kill about an average of 5 hours using my touch screen phone. In the matter of expenses, I was paying an extra $50 for functionality I never or rarely use. If anything I used it more for just talking (what a surprise). Now as the same with the cable, I had more time to myself, and I was saving money for things like traveling, which is what I enjoy more than anything.
Finally, there were the unnecessary obligations. I was sitting at my desk, which is right across from my supervisor John. A very analytical person much of the world is very simplified and easily understood in his perspective. So I was complaining about some of the extracurricular things I would do outside of work, and in answer to my complaining he asked a very simple question: “If you don’t like doing it, then don’t do it.” This seemed like an alien concept to me because, I like many people, fell under the impression that the more busier you are, the more productive you are as an individual. The thing is that some times I think we concentrate on too many things that the work done is not of quality. So I then started eliminating the things in my life I really did not want to be a part of anymore. I now find that my work has considerably has improved and if anything, I am more focused on the task at hand.
In a way with all these extra material and useless obligations eliminated I found more control of my life. Once I established what I felt was important in my life I finally figured out what I need and I don’t need. I believe you will find with practice you can live with less than you think, I certainly have discovered this to be true.
BRAVO!