Recently in Health and happiness Category

For some strange reason, I kind of like running against the wind. Even when it's blowing really hard and I have to push myself that much harder to keep up the right tempo and reach the final goal. You also feel very thankful that you are healthy and in good condition, physically as well as mentally.

Pushing against the elements is alot like life. You live day by day and move forward, sometimes with the wind at your back and other times in your face. If the wind is not blowing at all, that's the nicest and makes you feel the most relaxed. But that's also very rare and should be cherished whenever it occurs.

You push a little bit harder and when the running loop has been completed, you feel that much better. Tomorrow will bring yet another loop to finish, and be sure to appreciate it as well as the rest.

What most people seem to forget is that we have more influence over our immediate surroundings than we at first may want to admit.

We definitely have control over our own thoughts which means that we are masters of our own moods. Own moods result directly from thoughts, the way that other thoughts interact with each other. At least logically that makes sense.

I guess that what I am trying to say is that we create the world around us. The environment is nothing more than an infinite collection of energy and movements. It is influenced by the objects moving around within it and the way those objects interact with each other. These are contained and constrained by the laws of nature, many of which can be described using simple mathematical formulae, others to a lesser degree.

People are also objects, complicated and unpredictable I agree. We might not be able to control completely the actions and interactions of others, but we can influence them in a positive way. Even minor actions on our part can result in a chain reaction of complicated events, feeding back on us and improving us for the better.

Think positively about yourself. Have confidence in your actions, and expect the best of all possible worlds, even if disaster may strike you down once in awhile. Find a path through the world of interacting objects which does justice to your beliefs, desires and ever-changing moods.

Next year is full of new opportunities. My challenge at least will be to make the best of things and remain positive at all times.

An interesting book:
Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel By Changing the Way You Think

Most people of sound mind would find it extremely difficult to understand that inner urge of mine which keeps making me want to go running despite the icy cold air and the less than ideal circumstances outside.

I have to admit that getting mentally prepared beforehand takes a bit more effort compared to those sunny and pleasant days of summer times past. The goal is what attracts me more than ever, mostly because it's more of an obstacle and therefore when it's all over with, I will feel much better about myself and what I have achieved.

Today is a good example of that. About one third of the way around my usual jogging route, I was huffing and puffing and wondering why the heck I was putting myself through all of this misery. The cold breeze was blowing in my face, my finger tips and toes were tingling, and it was getting dark quickly. Realizing that such potentially negative thoughts are mere distractions and therefore unreal, I refocused on the task at hand, and then felt much better.

Learning to run, acquiring a good tempo, and making it all happen is what life is all about. Having a good healthy workout like this mirrors the basics of life, improves your physical condition as well as re-wires and re-lubricates those inner thought processes. Aging is a myth and inner spirit is where the energy all comes from.

Some people have to climb high mountains, others travel around the world, and still others spend a whole lifetime acquiring perfect harmony with nature. That all seems inefficient to me. So much extra time and energy needed when similar adventures can be made by simply running around the countryside for an hour or so a day.

I try to make it a point everyday to have my daily run. The total length is 7.7 kilometers, and depending on my mood and how fit I feel, the route takes me about forty minutes to cover.

Now that I have so much free time left over, I fill my days with golf in the morning and running in the afternoon. As of today, I have run eleven days in a row, which means that I've covered 84.7 kilometers. Supposing that I had done that in one stretch, it would have taken me all the way to Amsterdam and almost back again.

The route takes me through the wonderful flat countryside, in the middle of nowhere, along lots of water and past farmland. The last leg does take me along the highway, but the amazing view on the right makes it much nicer. If the sky is clear blue, I see the giant orange ball of the sun setting in the distance.

Each day closer to winter brings the sun lower and lower as the orange sliver gets thinner and thinner. When the new year returns, the orange sliver widens in glimmering beauty, welcoming my return and the return of the approaching warmer weather. But that will take some time, and now I will have to bear with it getting colder and the waterways freezing over first.

Google maps

Starting next month I'll be working again, in Amsterdam coincidentally. That means that there will be much less time for running, let alone for golf. I will have to figure something out if I want to keep my youthful figure and my single digit handicap.

Being more positive about life really isn't that difficult, and with a little bit of effort, one can greatly increase the quality of life.

The impact is pretty powerful, meaning that the more you do it, the more it becomes a part of you. You actually do feel happier.

After having had to stand the whole hour in the crowded train to my work and feeling angry about life, I was pleased to discover this article which describes the following simple five steps:

1. Come up with a positive response to every situation you meet.
2. Look for the good in other people. Rather than seeking to identify the negative traits in the people around you that you interact with, look for the positive ones.
3. Act happy, even if it's a painted dayglow smile. You don't have to be happy - often, that's an impossibly tall order. Instead, just act happy.
4. Drop the sarcasm. Sarcasm can be a lot of fun, but in the end, it's just negativity wrapped up and packaged as a joke.
5. Get plenty of rest and eat a good diet. This along with exercise is one sure way to naturally elevate your mood.

Reference: Benefits of a positive attitude.

This morning I read an interesting newspaper article. In it scientists claim that their research indicates that the happiest period of our lives is between the ages of fifty and fifty-three.

Not sure sure that I believe this, but just in case, I guess I will have to live it up now while I can.

Assuming that the average age is eighty-years old, that's less than four percent of your total time on the planet. The window of opportunity is now my friends.

Might as well maximize one's potential for happiness, that three year sliver of time is too short and too precious.

(I still remember when I was about ten years old calculating how old I would be at the turn of the century: forty-two years old, that's sure hard to believe)

I'm not usually the one to generalize, but my experiences are that it is more often than not very difficult if not impossible to communicate properly with women.

What for me is a crystal clear expression or a calculated and careful opinion is misunderstood in ways that I could never have imagined in advance.

Even being mentally prepared in advance for such potential difficulties is not enough to stave off all such dangers. These conversations sway and become entangled in ways that just do not make sense to me.

I've learned that listening well, minimizing verbal reactions and avoiding statements that could be misinterpreted as judgmental is often the best strategy to follow.

By adhering to this principle, please realize that the frustration can nag at you in ways that make this extremely uncomfortable to uphold, especially for the talkative and macho men types out there.

I fear for my life that women reading this carefully penned entry of mine will over react and become angry at me for writing such nonsense. Women are empathetic creatures, but when it comes to the opposite sex, they fail to understand why some male like me could feel this way in the first place. Or not?

Certainly, although communication is the buzzword these days, it remains an interesting and challenging activity with which we should all gain insight and human entertainment.

I'll keep on talking (carefully) and not say too much.

Those little white pills that Thea brought home for me the other day from her work are amazing. Although the official cure is ten days, I feel completely cured after only two.

The pain in my shoulders is pretty much gone and I feel great. Actually, I still can feel that the something that used to be painful is still in there, but the pain impulses normally sent to my brain are blocked dead in their tracks.

The ultimate test was surviving a number of intense golf training sessions hitting balls on the driving range. The ball trajectories are slowly but surely getting straighter with an occasional errant draw/hook, the constant pounding of club face to the mat ineffective.

The secret goes by the name of Meloxicam 7,5 PCH, at least that is what is written in tiny letters on the back of the medicine strip.

According to the scientific literature, "Meloxicam inhibits cyclooxygenase (COX), the enzyme responsible for converting arachidonic acid into prostaglandin H₂--the first step in the synthesis of prostaglandins, which are mediators of inflammation. Meloxicam has been shown, especially at its low therapeutic dose, selectively to inhibit COX-2 over COX-1."

Lovely little miracles these small round objects that I swallow.

My right shoulder is killing me, and it has been pretty painful on and off now for about half a year. I cannot figure out what is causing it. The intensity of the pain doesn't seem to have any logical correlation with my daily activities. It can flair up for no reason at all or then disappear just like that. Sometimes it can lock at the joint slightly, and the ensuing muffled crack from deep inside of the ligaments can hurt pretty bad. Could it have something to do with my working long hours behind my laptop?

Luckily it doesn't affect my golf game, except if I have to carry my bag. Winter play disallows usage of push carts, so now I just carry my bag from my left shoulder and hope for the best. My back swing and follow-through are not limited by my right shoulders which makes me very thankful.

This afternoon I have an appointment with the friendly neighborhood physiotherapist, and I'm curious what he has to say. His usual thing is to give me a bunch of exercises I have to do each morning to loosen up my joints. But to be honest, I'm a little worried that this is some kind of chronic infection that requires a more serious medical treatment.

So how long has it been now that I've been postponing those two simple tasks? Half a year at least, I should think.

I'm still not sure what finally got into me, but this afternoon during a fanciful spark of inspiration, I decided to do them. To replace the outside vent for the dryer, and then to re-attach the metal latch to the window so that it can be kept open properly.

In total the two activities took me about six minutes, maybe less. Six minutes over a period of half a year is not very much. That's merely 0.0023% of total time so-called wasted.

I'm feeling so good about myself having accomplished such trivial matters, that I seriously wonder why I hadn't done them long ago if not sooner.