Commit to Yourself or You'll Be Committed

It's amazing how many days, weeks, months go by and before you know it you're a basket case.  That's right ... ready for the padded cell, the straight jacket, the lobotomy.  All because you ran yourself into the ground and now can't even put a sentence together.  If you have found yourself longing for the bygone days of childhood where all you had to worry about was sneaking out of the house in the outfit your mother bought you with enough lead time to change into the stashed outfit under the bush that is what you fully intend to wear to school. It is amazing how we know full well that we need to exercise, meditate, rest, eat, go for a walk, take a vacation ... and yet we don't do it.  None of it.  We don't really commit to the idea that we need a balanced life.  We just talk the talk and so we can't even walk without a cane and a Red Bull.  Or better yet, you think you're really healthy and then you go to the doctor and your blood test is just a shade better than Frankenstein's.

The fact is that really living a balanced life means not waiting until the weekend to relax, or only allowing yourself a nap when you're on vacation.  A balanced life means incorporating things into every single day that will sustain you mentally, emotionally and physically for years to come.  It's a commitment.  A commitment to yourself.

When you get up you have to make a decision about your day - what are you going to do first?  Most people think of all the things they have to do and begin to schedule their day based on that.  Then they think about the things they should do - those fill in most of the gaps in the day.  Now what does that leave?  Enough time for meals, for buying and preparing healthy food, taking a much-needed nap, spending time with those you love, reading a book, doing some yoga, taking a long, hot bath?  Likely not.

In order to really be healthy in every way and to live a long and vital life, you have to block out the time you need FIRST.  Then make decisions and commitments to work and to others based on the time available after that.  You will be amazed at how your life will change.  After all, where you put your energy and your time is where the results will be.