I would rather be ashes than dust!

Timism of the day: I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.

I know what to do, so why am I not doing it?

Timism of the day: I know what to do, so why am I not doing it? That’s the million dollar question, so today, and perhaps throughout the next few days, as time provides, i will attempt to help you, my FB friends, myself included, to explore this internal question with the hopes that we can make the appropriate change...s internally, which will of course manifest themselves externally.

So why are we not doing what we know to do? One of the first things that comes to mind is that we probably don’t believe that we can. Here are a few beliefs that i have heard over the years in my practice by people just like you and me, (normal people going through extenuating circumstances) to explain why they do not engage in healthy pursuits. As you read these, be honest with yourself and check off all of those that you have heard yourself saying at some time or another. No ones watching, so be honest, go with your very first instinct. Whatever you do, don’t pause, just read and check it off. The quicker you answer and check, the more likely that you are being honest with yourself. Here they are:
· I am to busy.
· I don’t have the time to shop for the right foods.
· I work too many hours to be able to exercise.
· I have too many children at home to take care of.
· I have too many children at home to take care of.
· I can’t keep track; I am too busy.
· I have too many family problems.
· Healthy eating is too expensive.
· I don’t need to exercise; I walk all day at work.
· I have a low metabolism so I can’t lose weight.
· I am under to much stress at work.
· My family cooks all the foods I like, and I can’t refuse.
· I don’t know what healthy choices are.
· I can’t stick to a strict diet.
· I live in a dangerous neighborhood so I can’t exercise.
· I lost the list of foods I need to stay away from.
· I don’t like any of the foods that are good for me.
· With the holidays, it is impossible to stick to my routine.
· I’m not the one who buys the groceries.
· I have too many other health problems.
· It is too late. I am too old.
· I have tried every kind of exercise and diet, and nothing works.
· I just take extra insulin if I eat too much.
· My doctor never tells me that I have to lose weight.
· My scales are broken.
· My exercise bike is broken.
· I am hungry all the time.
· I am bored, and I eat all day long.
· It’s too painful to exercise.
· It’s inconvenient.
· I don’t have time.
· It’s boring.
· It’s hard to keep up.
· I’m too out of shape.
And/or other: List your own: ______________________________

These listed reasons/excuses can be organized into 6 distinct categories:
· Lack of time (I’m too busy.)
· Lack of money (Eating healthy is too expensive.)
· Lack of knowledge (I don’t know what healthy choices are.)
· Lack of ability (I have too much pain to exercise.)
· Lack of motivation (I know what to do. I just don’t do it.)
· Lack of optimism (It is too late, and I’m too old to change.)

Be Careful who you align yourself with!

Timism of the day: Be Careful who you align yourself with!

There’s a concept that i use in my theft intervention classes called “The Money is Time Concept”. Now perhaps you’ve heard it the other way around, but in this context, in order for money to have value there is always an agreement and transaction. An agreement to work is an agreement to give someone our time for the transaction of money. So, let’s say we agree to $10 per hour for example. In this case then, MONEY IS TIME. The only exception would be finding money, winning the lottery etc…

Now, let’s examine the issue of TIME. We only have so much time in our lives, so in that sense there is an assumption that time is important to us. In fact, TIME IS LIFE. For example, at $10 per hour, for us to buy a $500 television, we would have to give up 50 hours of our time, which in effect is 50 hours of our life.

Murder, Slavery and Stealing all have “TIME IS LIFE” in common. The only difference is the amount of time. Now, I understand that most of us would never murder somebody, or put somebody in slavery, but by stealing, we are doing the same thing. When we steal, the only difference is the amount of time/life that we are stealing from someone. Thus by stealing, we are aligning ourselves with those who murder and enslave.

The person that we have victimized has to take their time and life to make up for the crime, thus, if a $500 television was stolen, what was actually stolen was 50 hours of their life, which they can NEVER get back.

Now let’s take that just a step further and evaluate other things that steal time, such as avoidance, silence, neglect, evasion, work, and laziness, to name a few. Did you know that every time we refuse to communicate and avoid each other, we are actually stealing a piece of someone’s time? Many times when we choose to bring that 30 pack home, that bottle of liquor, or that drug home, we are choosing to check out emotionally and thus neglect those we love, stealing precious pieces of life. Have we thought about our jobs, or friends, or any other activity that we use, many times unknowingly, to separate us from our loved ones and how that is perceived as neglect, avoidance, and contributing to one feeling useless, unloved, and thus robbing them of precious pieces of life.

The silent treatment is a good example. Many of us use the silent treatment to essentially gain control. We hold those near and dear to us hostage, in essence saying that if you cross me, or don’t do things the way that I want them done, then you will suffer abandonment until I feel like it is time for us to make amends always with us wielding the power stick. This is aligning you with the worst of the worst types of criminals, those who murder and those who enslave, the very people that many times CAN’T feel because they are sociopaths, but you CAN feel, but choose to cross THE HURT LINE.

The more times we choose to cross THE HURT LINE, the easier it gets, and even worse, the more justified we feel, however, every time we CHOOSE to do this we are not only hurting others, but ourselves, leaving all parties unhappy.

Every time we CHOOSE to neglect, abandon, avoid, be silent, and not communicate with those near and dear to us, we are stealing precious pieces of their life that can NEVER be regained, and aligning ourselves with those who murder, and enslave, and CAN'T feel. It’s a very selfish thing we are doing and much much more harmful than we may ever know or imagine, and many times we are not even aware that we are doing it. Consider the damage. Consider the alignment. Most of us have never looked at it this way, and didn’t know. Well, now you know. Now it is a choice. Just take the MONEY IS TIME CONCEPT and replace the money with ______________ IS TIME and TIME IS LIFE. So, again I say: Be careful who you align yourself with, LIVE’S DEPENDS ON IT!