After I had that kombucha, something just didn’t feel right. Then it started. Gut pain. And lots of it.
So bad that I could barely stand up straight. I’d had this before, but not this bad. It wiped me out completely. I was going to bed as early as I could and sleeping as long as I could. But as the days wore on and I still had tremendous pain, wasn’t pooping, or farting (Not even a little squeaker!), I was getting concerned.
I saw the doctor and had some tests. My inflammation markers were sky high. Now there was some real concern.
Frankly, I started to think the worst. I was definitely losing the Battle of Mind. Before the blood work, the GI doctor was laid back, too. But then with the test results, it was like, OK, ultrasound of your liver and we will do an endoscopy and a colonoscopy. I was praying that everything would be ok.
And, to cut the story short, it was. Five polyps but nothing catastrophic.
Analyze your health and where you are
After an event like this, you’re compelled to do some analysis. But wherever you are, you should occasionally step back and ask, “Where am I?”
In the analysis of the whole ordeal, I came to realize a few things.
- I had just gone through a four year program for an MBA
- During that time I had one new kid born and already had a 1.5 year old at the start.
- I’d gotten a promotion at work with the accompanying increased duties and more things to interpret as stressful
- We’d just moved, and I was sleeping about 6 hours a night (foolishly influenced by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “sleep faster” advice)
That was the first part of reflection.
Then the next part was how am I eating, drinking, and taking care of my body via exercise?
Two things. My exercise was on maintenance mode, but I was pushing it with too heavy of weights. I wasn’t getting enough fresh air and sunshine and I was eating too much sugar.
A lot of people reading this could be in similar situations. Out of balance and eating poorly, not getting enough fresh air and sunshine.
Drill in the fundamentals and make them habits
Fresh air and sunshine are the principal foods of man. Sorry Beijing and other polluted cities. Frankly, I’d move (like I did from Phoenix) if I was in a city with crappy air.
Now, it turns out the best way to get sun is to get as naked as possible and expose yourself to the morning or late afternoon sun for at least 10 minutes. For air, a daily walk outside is excellent, as is doing some sort of breathing exercise in the morning. Jogging is even better as it increases the rate of exchange of the fresh air.
Super-vitalizing stuff here. Plus, it puts priorities in perspective. We’re beings on a planet, we can’t forget that lest we create a dystopian, concrete-infested future.
Sleep and diet are the other fundamentals to stress. Here are two sides of the coin. Sleep restores your nerve energy and eating can destroy it. If you eat poorly, you must work harder at digestion which can really mean your food took more energy than it gave.
Very devitalizing.
Discover your unique calling, your Mission
Anyone familiar with Napoleon Hill knows about the importance of desire, or of the definite chief aim. Most authors in personal success devote time to this concept.
Robert Greene’s Mastery book was nearly all about this. Your life’s calling, he called it.
A good company has a mission and a vision. The efforts of the employees are expected to funnel in to this vision. The better they are that doing this, the better the company should be.
Likewise, you should funnel your activities as best as possible into your mission. And work assiduously to discover what your mission is. Even just getting closer to the mission will lead to better results.
When you do this work, you start setting goals. You use your imagine to think of the ways things could be. All these things channel your energy and make contending with a momentary set back of health issues much easier.
Slow down the pace of life and be more patient
Slowing down. Slowing down really means focusing on the important things. The most value-producing things you do. People like to claim they are “so busy” but that’s actually not a good thing.
Darren Hardy says that busyness equals laziness. Too lazy to figure out your priorities and work on them. Too lazy to sort out your work, delegate, or maybe have a hard conversation with your boss.
Someone I know has always been so busy she has scant an idea who she really is. It’s a form of stimulation that people rely on when they don’t want to face things. Not dissimilar from alcohol or anything else. It’s a drug used as stimulation, being busy.
So, slow down. Norman Vincent Peele recommended 15 minutes of doing nothing each day. He said that people who did this rarely if ever get sick.
Something to think about. And it’s something that I do now more routinely and it makes a big difference. I’m still calibrating the schedule, but my eyes are wider open now.
The right type of exercise
Exercise can actually devitalize you. People don’t realize this.
A fat lady I know spends a lot of time in bootcamps. I’m certain she’s overtrained and would do better doing less.
When you’re devitalized, the worst thing you can do is adopt some super-intense exercise schedule or start to go to a bootcamp or whatever. Our culture has a fetish for overly stimulating exercise whereas instead of exercise we should call it training and it should be super-focused.
Training in social situations can push people past where they should be pushed. Bootcampers, beware. This is not to sound weak-minded, but it’s to drill in the importance of fundamentals and building oneself up gradually.
I’d honestly say here that walking could be the right thing. Period. Walking and an active life. Not even calisthenics. Get in the rest,
Then the next step is adding some weights to some key movements. But how much weight? Not much.
Rest and worry and mental machinations
Don’t be constantly agitating yourself with needless thought or worry. Slow down before bed. Meditate. Read something spiritual and uplifting, or something powerful and commanding that reminds you of who and what you are.
Most recommendations for sleep are between 7 and 9 hours. Find your rhythm and you might consider being on the lower end of the spectrum and then catching up. Different ways to do this, but get the rest.
* * *
Alright, that’s it here. Hopefully this information helps you out. You can restore yourself and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Fresh air and sunshine are actually the two main ingredients. Walking and an active life are really close by.
None of this stuff costs you any money. In fact, it’ll get you money. Because as you vitalize yourself, you’ll be more magnetic. You’ll think more clearly. Give these things a shot.
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