It’s January once again, and for most of us the resolutions to lose weight and become more physically active are once again on top of the list of ‘to do’s’ for 2009.
As we age, it seems to have become somewhat of a broken record….we start out with the best of intentions, but somehow by mid January (or for those more fortifiably committed), by the start of February, we have lapsed back into our old familiar bad habits. (Just days short of reaching our initial goal).
Experts say that if we keep true to a new behaviour, in 6 short weeks it will have become mentally ingrained and imprinted as a new ‘habit’. So there is hope for those of us who will look at it as a 6 week training session, rather than a life-long commitment (which it will sustainably become in those 6 weeks…..but somehow, it is easier to work towards when it is viewed in a shorter finite length of time—6 weeks. A much easier goal to reach.)
Maintaining (or achieving) a healthy weight as we pass our 30’s becomes increasingly difficult, and similarly just as important in determining our future and ongoing health.
For instance: Type 2 diabetes is on the rampant increase.
Mainly because of our fast-paced lifestyles (partly due to the recession—stress and fast- ‘nutritionally deplete’- foods), and is noticeably and increasingly associated with the aging ‘baby-boomers’. (Although, the younger generations who follow their elder baby-boomer present-day example are also experiencing an increase in this preventable disease.) Which, if you think about it for a moment, is rather an oxy-moron concept. Those 60’s ‘Hippies’, (now our ‘baby-boomers’) promoted love not war (thereby reducing stress levels; everyone was so ‘laid-back’), and most definitely concerned about our planet (recycle, reduce, reuse), and of course into a vegetarian or at the very least, a healthy attitude towards food consumption. Herbs were used extensively (and not just smoked!), alternative holistic healing methods were explored and incorporated… In short: a healthier lifestyle was the norm.
Everything looked so ‘rosey’ (and it wasn’t just the glasses!). So what happened?
Corporate greed; personal greed; pursuit of the dollar became uppermost as those maturing ‘hippies’ realized that in order to change the world and be taken seriously, ‘acts’ had to be ‘cleaned up’ (dress attire conformity), attitudes had to be changed (enthusiastic openmindedness to new and/or foreign concepts—religious, medicinal, political, etc–outwardly tamed), in order to ‘relate’ to the existing ‘older’ generation before new concepts could be put forth and developed. But what happened was, those in-place adopted attitudes won out over family values, unity, camaraderie, with narrow-mindedness of thought, actions, outlook and greed triumphing. They bent over backwards trying to conform, sacrificing idealisms which correspondingly became skewed and distorted.
Presently, we find ourselves back in the precarious position where effective alternatives need to be explored and incorporated once again in order to succeed and survive.
So…..how do we keep our New Year’s resolutions? Or have we even bothered to make any this year? Have we become that complacent?
One thing is for sure, in order to survive the recession (depression) that now is griping the whole world, not just the superpower countries, a new strategy must be developed that we, the masses are able to easily and readily follow.
Learning from our past, incorporating those proven successes and eliminating the failing traps is the blueprint to our present and future success.
It may be more easily attained that it may seem at first glance.
First off: Personal health. Physical health achieved and maintained is required in order to effect other changes.
Second: Mental health is a prerequisite for attitude changes and growth—from personal, to national, to world-wide health. This need is so evident as a priority as indicated by the surging popularity of self-help books, gurus, and ‘life-coach’ advice.
Third: An easy to follow healthy financial strategy will ensure survival through the roughest of times.
Over the next 6 weeks, we will be taking a closer look at how to affect these positive changes into our lives; put together from those who have already successfully overcome, mastered, and survived these headless adversaries. Hopefully, at the end of February, we will have developed their proven healthier ‘habits’ and turned the corner on the apparent looming impending disaster.
Let’s venture down this path together………at betweenclosefriends.com.