My basic life philosophy is very simple. If I have a problem, I try to find five simple things that I can do to remedy or alleviate that particular situation. I simply ask myself is this person, habit, or this mindset a burden or a blessing? What are five simple things or less that I can do to change this specific situation. If that specific change does not work, can I simply we work the problem, subtract all the nonsense, and realign my personal compass to my North Star (Well-being). Again, five fingers — five simple practical changes. Most of the time those five simple changes are subtraction not addition.
The mindset that I tried to cultivate on a personal basis it’s somewhere between Zen and Greek and Roman stoicism. In my younger days I was obsessed with Eastern philosophy. But it simply did not mesh with my ADHD brain and my traumatic past. So I had to find what worked for me on a personal basis, what didn’t work, and what was simply a bunch of nonsensical hocus pocus to completely negate from my life.
A physicalcan prescribe someone the therapeutic parameters to treat a specific medical condition and it won’t work because you’re not simultaneously treating the patient’s mindset. You can prescribe a diabetic metformin or insulin but if they are eating a box of cookies every night it isn’t going to help them.
I recently had a conversation with a work acquaintance who is a vendor for my company. He was riding around on one of those knee scooters that you use when you injured your foot.
This particular person upon first glance did not look like a healthy person who was trying to manage his diabetes in a proactive way. He just had his big toe amputated. As a diabetic this is not the first time that I’ve seen this particular scenario. But it is one, I’ve spent the last 10 years of my diabetes diagnosis trying to avoid.
It kicked in my proverbial brain gears and I had immediately thought to myself what particular habits and foods that I could subtract that could help avoid this specific situation. It was if my brain GPS kicked into its “recalculating mode.”
I think one of the bad habits that people over 45 fail to do is to reroute their particular life path. Most people get stuck in routines that are seldom proactive. We’ve all seen the guy over 45 like my late brother who was on the beef and potato diet and ran away from green vegetables as if it was his personal kryptonite.
I simply don’t want to be that person. I’ve watched many of my family members die before the age of 60 because of their addiction to bad habits, poor nutrition, aversion to exercise, and poor lifestyle choices. That is not the road that I choose to go down and I’ve spent 40 years of my life trying to avoid those pits and snares.
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