2023-11-04 — “Book” Worm

Morning Gratitude:

• This morning I am grateful that I was reminded right off the bat to focus on gratitude.
• I’m also grateful that I was reminded about and have begun again to incorporate my 5x5s.
• I’m grateful to be getting on a better daily routine, both as far as the things that I am doing during the day, as well as when I’m going to bed and getting up. I’m not quite back to where I want to be yet, but I am trending in the right direction. 🙂
• I’m grateful for my friend Corey who called shortly after I woke up and with whom, as he is driving through Wyoming, have been having a meaningful conversation about prayer, a continuance of our conversation from when I was in Utah and we were coming back from the uintas.
• I’m grateful for another absolutely gorgeous day. It’s going to be in the high 60s today, and I love that. 😁
• I’m grateful to have the flexibility to not work right now while I’m trying to heal my injuries.
• I’m grateful to be enjoying a much greater measure of peace.
• I’m grateful to be freeing myself from my desire to check the news. That one is still such a strong habit and desire, but as I choose not to each time, I feel freer and freer, more and more at peace, and closer to getting back to the place I long to be.

I’ll call that good for now. I’ll be back later…

…

Ok, it’s later. 🙃

It’s 8:28 p.m., and I’m embarking on a new schedule, so lights out is at 9:00. 😶

I’m trying to get back to the schedule I feel has worked best for me, so it’s bed at 9:00 and up at 4:30. I feel tired enough right now to fall asleep, so… 🤞

As far as the day is concerned, that conversation with Cory in the morning was a really good one. He was in and out of reception, so we were interrupted a few times, but overall, it was a great conversation. 😊

I actually spent most of the day in study, focusing on a sustainable health plan for optimal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Today’s studying focused mostly on physical health, specifically hydration and nutrition. I learned a lot of good things, and I spent a good amount of time writing what I learned down in a blog entry that I will post once I’m finished.

I still have a lot of research left to do, but I made excellent progress today. After what I feel to be a reasonable amount of research, I came up with a complete hydration plan, a meal frequency plan, a caloric intake starting place, and a breakdown of how those calories will be divided between protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

So… a great start. 🥳

I’ve already successfully begun putting my hydration plan into practice, and I’ve made good progress in making it easier in the future to maintain that hydration plan.

🥳

Tomorrow I’ll begin putting my meal-frequency plan in place.

It will take a lot more work to get the balanced/healthy meal plans figured out, so I’m just going to eat what I’ve been eating as I work on getting that information and plan put together.

I did so much research today. 🙃

I also spent a pretty good chunk of time working on my daily routine. I could have just gone back to some of the old ones that I’ve written down, but having learned some of the things I’ve learned about eating and exercise and all of that stuff, I couldn’t do my morning routine like I used to do and still be able to follow the principles I’d learned, so it took a good bit of wiggling things around before I was able to come up with a routine that will be my starting place, to be adjusted as necessary as I go forward with it.

I’m feeling pretty good. I’m feeling pretty positive. And amazingly, I’ve come to the end of the day, realizing that it was Saturday, and realizing that I didn’t care a lick about what was going on in sports. Saturdays are huge sports days, especially during this time of college football, and I just didn’t care.

🥳

It feels so nice! So so nice!

Interest in bouncing from news site to news site also diminished significantly today. It just wasn’t an issue for me.

🥳

I’m grateful for these things.

After spending so much time doing research, I was tired and wanting to give my brain a vegging break. That’s where I’m still unprepared. I’m not very good at vegging in ways that I feel are beneficial and not destructive.

I’m a very goal-oriented person, and I have a tendency to set goals for the things that I do as vegging/recreation. 😅 If I start playing the piano, then I’ll think about my goals of the songs that I want to finish and the other songs I want to write. If I let myself start focusing on goals, then the vegging/wholesome recreation begins to turn into another item on the to-do list, and therefore, an additional stressor.

Blasted overactive goal-oriented brain. 🙃

I need to be deliberate and intentional in pointing out to myself on a regular basis that wholesome recreation, simply for the sake of wholesome recreation, is a good thing for the mind, the body, and the spirit, and doesn’t require goals that must be achieved as part of that recreation.

So that’s on the list of things to brand on my brain. 😅

Anyway, it’s time to chat with Mr. Big Shot, so, I wish you peace and love and light and joy.

Lift the world.

~ stephen