You woke up.
You’re breathing.
You’re connected to the world’s brain.
You’re coherent and comprehending what you’re reading.
And you have the ability to act.
…Don’t look at this as anything less than an absolute miracle.
Do something today that makes you proud.
P.s. January 17th was Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day… I hope this wasn’t you, but if it was… I published a new article designed to be your New Year Resolution First Aid Kit. Read it and get back on track STAT.
I pulled the rhomboid muscles in my back.
Here’s why: I created a daily warm up routine that included foam rolling and light stretching for essentially just my lower body.
Which, historically speaking for me, hasn’t lead to any issues and has worked out great. Especially for leg day and my martial arts training (which is pretty much leg day every time).
However, I can now see what the heavy lower body focus lead to… a lack of upper body focus.
…I haven’t been properly warming up the upper body muscles I’m using to do heavy lifting which, of course, is what lead to this injury.
So, I’ve since updated my warm up routine to be more balanced and specific to the muscle groups being utilized that day (duh moment). And I’m creatively modifying my workouts until my rhomboid injury heals.
Generally speaking, most of us operate with a “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” kind of mentality.
Exercise related injuries, oftentimes, are an illustration that something is “broke.”
…But many of us don’t see this.
We do what we need to do to get healed and then go back to doing exactly what we were doing before—assuming it was a freak accident or some kind of “dumb luck.”
I’d argue that it’s almost always more than that…. that it’s your body’s attempt to communicate with you that something is wrong… that something isn’t being stretched, strengthened, or otherwise cared for enough.
Take a close look at what could have lead to the injury and modify your routine to include the proactive solution so it doesn’t happen the next time.
…This is experiential learning at its finest.
Lately, I have been reminding myself that being in a hurry is an excellent sign that I’m out of the present moment.
And I’ve been trying to slow down.
…While I read.
…While I drive.
…While I exercise.
…While I do chores.
…While I engage in conversation.
And there’s a palpable difference in how I feel when I do these things from a “I’m not in a hurry” mindset vs a “the quicker I go, the more I can get done” mindset—even if I’m operating with the same amount of time within each.
Which might have you wondering… how can I have a “I’m not in a hurry” mindset if I’m genuinely in a hurry?
What I tell myself is two fold: (1) Is there anything that’s in my control that I can change? If yes, then I do that… If not, then I accept the situation as is and move forward unhurriedly at the pace I’ve positioned myself to move at. Arguing against reality only makes everything worse. And (2) what can I do to prevent this from happening next time? Because “In a hurry” is not a good place to be.
See, mindset effects everything.
And rushing, as it turns out, is a primary source of anxiety—at least for me.
Subtract the rushing… and you’d be surprised how much anxiety you can subtract from your day, too.
P.s. I finished uploading quotes from If You Meet Buddha On The Road, Kill Him! to MoveMe Quotes. Read through my favorite 46 here ➜
Today, I found a gift I never gave.
It was two books wrapped with an enclosed card.
What I wrote was something sentimental and specific to the person and what they were going through at a specific time. An offering of some ideas that they might hold on to to help them carry on. And the books, of course, were thematically related to this notion.
The reason I never gave the gifts was because they slid into an out of sight position in my car and after a while, I just forgot about them completely. Once I rediscovered them, it was way past the occasion for the gift and so I just left them.
And it makes me wonder… had I gotten those gifts to that person, how might it’ve changed them? Would the words have landed? Would the books have made an impact?
Or would it have been a notion that was temporarily appreciated and then forgotten about? Would the words have fallen flat? Would the books have just been stored on their shelves and left unread?
Which makes me think… is it possible to give a gift and not have it make some type of impact on the other person? Even if the words didn’t strike a chord… even if the books weren’t read… is it possible to offer something so thoughtful and human without changing the other even one tenth of a degree in a better direction?
To which I’d say… after thinking about it… I don’t think so.
P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.
If I’m trying to write, but can’t think of what I want to say…
Rather than “look for inspiration” and browse websites, other articles, social media, etc…
I’ll try and force myself to sit with the not knowing.
The mindset is this: we already have an ocean’s worth of insight from the hundreds of thousands of hours we’ve been alive… what we don’t need is a few more drops of inspiration to add to our ocean… what we need is a space that allows us to dive into that ocean so we can (finally) do some proper exploring.
Think scuba diving.
…You don’t see scuba divers browsing social media, scanning websites for inspiration, or asking search engines which direction to go.
Scuba divers dive and explore. With absolutely zero distractions.
And when it comes to all things creative… so should we.
There are, quite literally, an infinite number of decisions you could have made in this moment… and yet, you made this one.
One out of infinity.
Overwhelming when you try and visualize the scale.
Freeing when you realize you might not be as stuck as you’ve made yourself out to be.
Inner Work Prompt: We do what we do because of everything we’ve done. And most of what we’ve done has been because of our environments, upbringings, and various conditioning. Imagine, however, that in this next moment you got amnesia and forget everything you’ve ever learned and come to know… Which path might this “reborn” you pick (out of infinity)?
I’m writing an article for MoveMe Quotes on boundaries that I plan on publishing this weekend.
One of my favorite lines that I’ve read so far is: “Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.”
A lot of people feel bad about boundaries… They have a hard time saying “no…” They don’t want to let others down or make them upset or disappointed.
But the truth of the matter is that boundaries are an expression of love—not hate.
And when you draw a boundary that allows you to better prioritize yourself—and your own time/energy/attention—it’s an expression of self-love.
…Because it’s precisely how you fill yourself up so you can better give love.
And anyone who has a problem with that (except maybe children/dependents who require some additional strategizing)… is precisely the type of person who you need to draw a boundary to.
…You’re not letting anyone down.
…There’s nothing to feel bad about.
…You’re not a disappointment.
You’re creating the line that allows you to BETTER LOVE them AND you simultaneously.
Really soak this one in… Because if you keep allowing them to cross your boundaries and suck the life from you… soon there won’t be any life—or love—left for you to give.
P.s. You can read my complete collection of 150+ quotes on boundaries that I’ll be making the article from here.