Why Should We Care About Our Health?
The majority of us care about what we eat and how much we exercise because of the outward, superficial benefits that sacrifice in these areas brings us.
We all want to see muscle definition, only have one chin and be attractive to the opposite sex.
Unfortunately our society cares deeply about how we look. However this is not all bad. The way we interact with the outside world around us is often a reflection of how we view ourselves. If we lose respect for ourselves, in both the physical and mental sense, then our respect for others ceases to exist.
As important as our outward image is to ourselves and (more likely) those around us, the importance of health goes much deeper and affects areas of our lives that we often overlook.
The Rock
Health is the rock on which all other aspects of life balance on. Don't believe me? When we become ill, we can not work, don't want to learn, we avoid social interaction and pretty much stop our lives until we are healed.
Every aspect of life depends on how healthy we are. A chink in our health armor can derail life goals, ambitions and dreams. No other aspect of life has the power to transform our lives like our health. Except for maybe having a child.
It won't matter how much money we make, or how many new cars we own, or how big our homes are if our health is broken and we are unable to enjoy these pleasures.
Many people who do not take care of their health refer to people who do by calling them "health nuts" or view us as alien life forms.
These people are blinded from the fact that their life is controlled by how healthy they are. Whether it be an illness or simply needing to stop to catch a breath after walking up a flight of stairs. Our health affects us on a day to day basis, whether we are aware of it or not.
Other Motivation
Why else should we care about our health?
In second behind physical appearance is the hope that we will live longer. For many this may be the case, but for some it is not. One thing is for certain however, being physically fit, having energy and embracing a healthy lifestyle will lead to a more enjoyable life. This can range from the importance of self confidence, self image and can even affect how we interact with those around us.
Will being healthy automatically result in a longer life? Who the hell knows. I could get hit by a car after I finish writing this article. Chance is an area of life we have no control over*.
* Sort of. Karma is an idea that I find truthfully fascinating and at the same time graveyard-after-dark terrifying.
Final Thoughts
Personally, for the time that I am allotted on this planet, I would rather have the peace of mind that what I am doing (nutrition and exercise speaking) is making my body work more efficiently and hopefully free of disease.
I am happy when I look in the mirror, I enjoy life and content with who I am. For me this is a reflection of living a lifestyle that I deem as healthy.
In truth, it really does not matter what motivates you to take your health into your own hands. As long as you are doing something (whether it be right or wrong) it is better than sitting on the sidelines and hoping.
Ryan
De-Cluttering Your Life: The Low Information Diet
Thus far, the focus of this blog has been to maintain and improve our physical health. Many of us associate health solely based on our physical well being. We are mistaken, as health encompasses all of our being. Including what goes on up stairs.
Clutter invades our brains like mosquitoes invade standing water in the beginning of summer. This clutter can come from internet, radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, pretty much any information distribution source on planet earth.
What clutter does to us
Adding clutter in the form of information has many negative impacts on our lives.
We stress about the death of a community member in which we had no affiliation. We worry about a sports team who's success and failures are completely outside of our control.
Too much information leads to uncertainty. Uncertainty about who we are as individuals and a distraction from what is truly important in our lives.
Is watching an hour of the evening news more important than having an hour long conversation with a close friend or family member? Is reading the New York Times from cover to cover going make us a better person than we were before we read it?
Information that is outside of our influence simply deters us and invents problems that we have no control over.
Impacts of the news
We are told to keep up with what is happening in the world because we have the communication systems in place to do it. 24 hour news stations and updating news websites give us up to the minute news coverage of the cat that is stuck in a tree in Central Park.
Just because we have these resources available, does not mean that we should utilize them.
I understand that their is a cultural stigma associated with catching up on the news. Reading the morning paper with a cup of coffee and watching the evening news with Katie Curic (?) are examples.
Our culture makes us feel as though in order to be a contributing member of society we need to know everything that is going on in the world. Most of us pay more attention to the new health care policy, Sandra Bullock's personal life and how many gray hairs Barrack Obama has than we do our families or our own personal sanity.
My Problem
I used to be an information addict. I would read 3 to 4 non-fiction books at one time, read the New York Times, National Geographic, countless blogs and listen to podcasts' like they would disappear tomorrow.
I would fill my brain with so much information that I did not have the capacity or where-with-all to do the things that I most enjoyed. I honestly did not even know what they were. I felt that every waking moment had to be filled with reading something or doing something productive.
I never took the time to sit and think or talk with myself about the problems that were plaguing my life. I was caught in a washing machine of information and my brain was the quarter that fell out of a pocket and was clanking around inside.
I never thought that the kind of life I was living was having a negative impact on my health until I read the 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris. He brought to light the idea of a "Low information Diet".
Tim Ferris recommends going on a 1 week media fast. No TV, non-music radio, newspapers, magazines. Only 1 hour of TV watching before bed or an hour of fiction reading.
How I Changed
I took this challenge about a month ago and never stopped.
I no longer read the paper or watch the news and I have canceled all of my magazine subscriptions.
Each Friday I go to a local coffee shop. And for 2 hours or less, I will read blogs, catch up on a little news, what ever my little heart desires.
Only for two hours though. This forces me to follow blogs that I truly care about and catch up on information that I find important.
Other than those two hours, I focus my energy and time on areas of my life that I deem important and that have positive impacts on my life. Such as day dreaming, meditating, reading fiction (sometimes nonfiction), spending time in nature, watching baseball and writing for this blog 
. Oh, and school work. Even though that is often a necessity rather than a choice.
I have come to the realization that time is our most precious and intimate resource. How we spend our time is a direct reflection of who we are.
Many people may view this belief as selfish.That's OK. Although selfishness can be a bad thing, in some areas of life we must be selfish.
Our time, for instance, is an area in which selfish practices should be used daily. We are only given one life. Being selfish with our time should be expected.
I have a new view of time. I see time as money. The more time I have to do the things that I truly want to do is worth far more to me than any material possession that I can buy.
Final Thoughts
We add clutter to our lives in the form of information in the name of productivity. This clutter all to often takes over our lives and we forget who we are as people.
I leave you now with the words of Marcus Aurelius:
"If you seek tranquility, do less."
Ryan
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