Two Unexpected Factors That Affect Your Health

“The mind is the portal to the soul and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to.”

— John Mark Comer

Hey friend!

I have two things I'm working on right now, Hurry and Distraction. Can you relate?

HURRY...

I read Comer's book, "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry" a few months ago. While I don't 100% agree entirely with his ideology, I highly recommend this book if you live life (like I do) in a constant state of rush, exclaiming "Hurry or we're going to be late!" all.the.time.

One main point from the book keeps tumbling through my mind, "Hurry and love are oil and water." My kids likely understand this all too well. School mornings and Sunday mornings when I'm rushing to get ready and get all the "chores" done before we leave, I'm in a less than stellar state of mind. I end up stressed, frustrated and yes...usually raising my voice to get them to G-O! Is this their fault? Often, yes. ;) But I know that if I simply managed my time better I could better handle things when they get off track.

I've started doing a couple of things to make our school mornings less stressful. I'm preparing my outfit and making my lunch the night before. My kids make their lunches after school and I prep all their school clothes the weekend before, so I'm not sure why I haven't done this sooner. They aren't major adjustments, but they are already making a big difference.

Sidenote: This is my most recent favorite lunch: Triscuits (Aldi brand), turkey pepperoni (Aldi), and mini sweet peppers dipped in non-fat Greek yogurt (both Aldi) seasoned with (alot) of Ranch Seasoning (not Aldi brand - only Hidden Valley will do!).

2 Protein Choices + 2 Carb Choices + .5 Fat Choice

DISTRACTION...Last weekend, my husband, 13 year old son and I watched "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix. Have you seen this? Yikes. Most people who watch this documentary are disturbed by the access social media companies have to their users, but what bothered me the most was realizing much of the hurry in my life is actually due to the distraction of social media. One notification turns into 10 minutes of scrolling and suddenly not only can I not remember what I was doing, but I'm now 10 minutes behind! 🤪 First thing in the morning I would check my memories and notifications from overnight and then I'd be watching stories...no wonder it takes me so long to start my workout! 🤦🏼‍♀️

A couple of things I'm doing to fix this...

First, I moved my social media apps into a folder, moved the folder to a page of it's own on my phone and labeled the folder "Use after 6PM". I've taken these apps off my phone in year's past but that's like making certain foods off limits - suddenly all you can do is think of them! So just like "all foods fit", so does social media, just after 6PM. Putting it on a page of it's own also keeps it out of my mind - the same reason I put the sweets on the top shelf of my pantry and not on my kitchen counter...Unagi ( I really hope one of you is a Friends fan and gets that! 😂).

Second, I turned off all the notifications in my social media apps. No more push notifications to take my attention away from the real world around me! I actually forgot to turn off the notifications on my Be Real accounts at first (I stopped using them in January when I started streamlining some things) and suddenly I started being assaulted with notifications - totally proved one of the messages from The Social Dilemma!

I'm less than a week into this and I am astounded by how different I feel. We've been to school/work a bit earlier and I've been more productive with my work and workouts. By default, my stress level has decreased (remember that's a pillar of health!) and I feel more calm. I like it.

Remember that being healthy is so much more than our food and fitness plan. Let me know how you are eliminating Hurry & Distraction in your life - it matters!

Your Friend,