Love, Friendship & Your Gifts Uncovered for the World
Dr. Dean Ornish http://deanornish.com respected physician, researcher and writer has done the work. He has proven the steps to a long healthy life. Food, Exercise, Meditation and Community.
For today, I want to talk about community. Do you have someone you love in your life? Friendships that fill your life? According to Dr. Ornish it is necessary to have people in our lives that we connect to. Along with that he states in his Ted Talk https://www.ted.com/talks/dean_ornish_on_healing that Intimacy IS Healing. Sexual/Erotic, Friendship/Family, Altruism/Compassion, Service, Meditation, Forgiveness, Community/Support Groups. With each of these things in our life we live longer happier lives. Without them, the evidence shows a shorter life expectancy.
To further this idea, in his book "How to Live a Good Life" author Jonathan Fields www.goodlifeproject.com talks about buckets. You need to have three buckets "Vitality" "Connection" & "Contribution". He states that one bucket cannot overflow without the other buckets filling as well. Vitality in our health both physical and mental, Connection with others along with faith and Contribution, how you bring your gifts to the world.
Vitality is the idea that you must feel good in order to be happy. It makes sense, if our bodies ache or we have pain we are not our best self. This would also include being grateful and having a sense of meaning in life. Connection is about our connection to others, God, Spirit and everything around us. I would include pets. For me, seeing my dogs sweet face makes me smile, not only on the outside but inside as well. She fills me daily. Contribution is about sharing yourself with your community and beyond.
Is your vitality bucket full? Do you feel good, exercise, eat right, take care of your mind and your body?
How about your Connection Bucket? Do you have people you care for in life that you can lean on and that can lean on you? Do you feel spiritually fulfilled?
And your Contribution Bucket...Are you making a difference in the life of another by using your talents and gifts?
If you are like me, you know which buckets need care and filling. And you most likely have an idea how to do it. For me, I am using the lessons in "How to Live a Good Life" to enhance my efforts.
I believe being well rounded lifts me up and when that happens I am able to lift others.
“A good life is made of a series of good days, starting with today.””
My blog is always centered around food, mind, body and spirit. Why is that? Because, I am a Life Coach and my job is to consider the whole person. We are not one thing but a sum of all of our parts. Eating healthy, exercise, love and community all affect our bodies. And our healthy body makes us a happier person. A person able to participate in the world around us. Our healthy body is directly related to our healthy brain. And our brain is enhanced by our good food, exercise, community, love choices. It is a circle. A circle of behavior. I understand if you are lacking in one of these areas it will not be easy to make the necessary changes, but....isn't the bigger picture worth the effort? At times the big picture is scary. That is why it is best to break down changes to smaller pieces and live in the present moment. You cannot change the past or predict the future. So step into this space, right now - Living a Strong, Living a Connected, Living a Loved, Living a Happy Life for yourself and the people/animals that love you and you love most.
Wishing you Grace, Peace & Healthy Living,
Lorraine
