The Daily G.I.F.T. from The GratiDude

“It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.” ― Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings You will find me in the garden, then.

www.grateful4.org

Gratitude

Intention

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Things

The G.I.F.T. Today

Grateful: for understanding and more importantly ENJOYING all of the steps of building my new life.

Intention-like Bruce Lee playing ping-pong with nunchuks, cool as a cucumber in a Yeti cooler.

First-Review video

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Morning Meditation from The GratiDude

10 years ago, when I would hear people say that “age is just a number “, or “you’re only as old as you feel” I would always call bullshit.

Like most thoughts from 10 years ago, I was completely wrong.

Incorrect.

You see, up until I started doing yoga 6 years ago and since my mid 30s, I felt my body aging, even though I was staying active and maintaining a clean diet as far as the solids go, however, the liquids were a different story.

There were times when I couldn’t understand why I was gaining weight or had some minor health issues yet. I am not sure how I was able to ignore the fact that all the toxins and poisons and alcohol were steadily streaming through my body and my brain every day, just by the nature of how long it takes to metabolize alcohol when you drink it.

Going to the gym six days a week and not eating processed foods is great but when you combine that with one thousand calories of alcohol every single day, they’re offset in terms of the benefits and the risks.

Another thing that I realized once I put the bottle down and told Tito that I could no longer be a friend with benefits for him was just how enabling our society is in general in terms of tolerating and in some cases, even encouraging, alcohol abuse.

In business organizations, the culture often flows (pun intended) from the executive team and their perspectives and tolerances on alcohol, as that would dictate how dinners and social functions are presented in terms of alcohol consumption being a part of those gatherings.

Or if you work with investors or private equity, whatever the chairperson says goes and if he is popping bottles and the alcohol is flowing, and if you want the money to keep flowing somebody in the organization needs to be drinking with that chairperson just to be safe. Even if you are hitting your numbers, it’s better to have a Fox in the henhouse and that means someone must take one for the team and go to toe to toe with the chairperson cocktail for cocktail.

I was an obvious candidate for that job on more than one occasion.

This can be really tough in the Golf and Resort world where alcohol is a HUGE part of profitability and Golfing culture in the USA.

It is everywhere at the golf course, so we have to be careful.

A Growth Mindset helps you avoid self-destructive behaviors, when fully embraced.

Yes, a growth mindset can be considered beneficial for overall health, as it encourages a positive approach to challenges, promotes resilience in the face of setbacks, and can lead to better mental wellbeing by reducing stress and anxiety associated with failure, ultimately contributing to a healthier lifestyle.

Key points about a growth mindset and health:

Positive outlook:

Believing that abilities can be developed through effort fosters a positive attitude towards learning and personal growth, which can improve mental health.

Resilience to setbacks:

A growth mindset encourages individuals to view failures as learning opportunities, making them more likely to bounce back from challenges and persevere.

Stress reduction:

By embracing challenges and not fearing failure, people with a growth mindset may experience less stress when faced with difficult situations.

Adaptability:

A growth mindset encourages continuous learning and adapting to new situations, which can be beneficial in maintaining health in a changing environment

It is why now I honestly feel like a child because my new healthy way of living and thinking and feeling is just about six years old. I’m in kindergarten!!

If you don’t believe me, try a growth mindset, and just focus on all of the things that you don’t know and the things that you’re curious about and just start leaning in to learning.

Connect with your breath and slow down your thinking so your awareness grows, and you can recognize the beauty that is in front of us every single day, regardless of where we are on this big blue, beautiful marble known as earth.

There is a reason, the epic poets that grew up in totally different time periods on opposite sides of the Earth wrote strikingly, similar sonnets and often times nearly identical lines of poetry.

I’m talking about men like Walt Whitman of the United States and Li Po(Tang Dynasty, 700 AD) of ancient China. They write like they were roommates.

Why?

Because they were both present in the moment of NOW and were both keen students of observation in the natural world.

Their poems detailed and chronicled the interconnectedness of the cycles of life, the web of life in a forest or the miracle of a bumblebee pollinating a flower in your backyard.

You’re beautiful, ever-changing mind is just like a parachute that functions best when open.