Introducing Habitual Balance
Out of Balance As I sat down today to write the first blog post of Habitual Balance, I leaned back and closed my eyes. I sat there, waiting for the thought bubbles to come floating in. Nothing. I opened my eyes, sat up straight, really focused, and still…nothing. Then, I had a first time experience. It was the one and only thought bubble that floated on in. “Run,” it said. This was the first time ever that I closed my laptop, set down my phone, and put on my shoes. I didn’t think about the weather. I didn’t consider changing. Nor did I try and wrassle my dogs into harnesses or dread going because well running really isn’t all that fun. I just got up, and hit go. It was on this run that those thought bubbles started floating back in. I immediately thought about how I didn’t have paper or my phone to jot down ideas in, because we humans must always rely on technology instead of the human brain that thought up computers in the first place. Here I am now, releasing the thoughts during my run without pen and paper present, with my phone still put away, and only in the company of the furry friends next to me. Amazing, what we can actually do when we set intentions and put our minds to something, isn’t it? Intentional Accomplishment Did you know that if you only run 1.33 miles 3x per week, that equates to 208 miles per year? That’s where I’m currently at in my running journey. I used to hate it, but I’ve begun to love it for 100 other reasons other than actually running. Running isn’t beneficial to me because it’s boring and monotonous. Sure, trimming those love handles is something I’m here for, but not until I ran through the Grand Canyon did I feel a sheer sense of accomplishment and wonder of “holy shit I’m running through the Grand Canyon.” That hit hard. Now I run because it’s instilled a new love in me. Not of running, but of accomplishment. If I’m feeling down, sleepy, lacking ideas, I run. And somehow within those short 1.33 miles or approximately 10-15 minutes, I’m feeling 110% better. Why do we stare at our screens for hours upon hours before coming to the realization that we are in fact human and crave nature to recharge our batteries? Habitual Balance … we’re in this together That’s what this blog post, and Habitual Balance as a whole is all about. The simple realization that we are all humans living this life together. The realization that we need to fuel our bodies correctly with wonderful food and feed our brains with healthy information that we can grow from. Within these posts, you’ll find a hefty supply of nourishment for both your brain and body, by way of healthy and easy to understand meal ideas, recommendations to tried-and-true supplements, understandings of which time management tools work best for you, and new ways of working out that you have never considered before that work even better than your boring old run. So get ready to learn a whole lot about yourself, and how you can improve your situations and your life. You really can make these small steps to open new worlds if only you have the mindset and patience with yourself to do so. During my run, I passed an elderly couple. This couple was doing simple yard work, but I thought about if they may have been runners in their lifetime. Or maybe they still were? After doing the previous math in my head, this got me thinking on a whole other level. Were they married for decades? Were they newlyweds? Were they even married? Would my husband and I be doing the same thing 20, 30, 40 years from now, watching a young woman pass and wonder why she chose to run that day? I also passed 3 young boys that were yelling for their grandma after playing some football in the front yard. Which prompted me to realize that recently in particular, all I’ve been thinking about is my lack of time. I constantly think about how I have less and less time to grow, to think, to create, to envision, to prosper, to just be. And then I thought, I’m not ready to be a grandma. And then another thought…I’m not even a mother yet! I really do, have plenty of time to be just, me. I’m still a little amazed at how 1.33 miles every so often can add up so quickly when you look at the big picture. It’s hard to move forward. It’s hard to forge ahead, but it must be done. Whether you are putting the groceries away, doing endless dishes, working a job you don’t enjoy, you must forge ahead. From our sister site: Maintaining Mental Health is Mentally Exhausting You must keep going Each and every day, every minute counts that you put towards working on your dream. Your dream could be as little as stretching for 5 minutes once a day, or as big as conquering the presidential race of 2040. Working on something that you love even as little as 30 seconds every day can add up more than you imagined it would by the time you’re ready to spread your wings. That’s where forming habits come in Creating a new habit is substantially harder to do than to talk about. And replacing a bad habit with a good one is even harder than that. Sticking to a routine, a schedule, a planner can be daunting to go at it all at once, and chances are you’ll fail in the long run. Habitual Balance has been created to assist you in your journey to a better you. How do you get there? By creating habits that are sustainable, obtainable, and healthy. These habits can be newly formed or put in place to repurpose time slots of unhealthy habits