Miboul – Mind, Body and Soul

Today was very hectic. The weather was gloomy, my kids were being very rude in the classroom and my workout was not as solid as I liked it to be.

I walked into my gym and approached the counter. The lady tried her hardest to speak english. It came out broken. My mind was set to “Just gimme the key and get out of my face” mode. I was carrying a dark cloud in my mind. I looked up and was confronted by the warmest smile.

Even though she could not speak english, she tried her hardest to communicate with me. On the other hand, I just wanted to get away. So I stopped, took a deep breath and forced the largest smile I could. I held it for 2 seconds. As the smile went larger, my dark clouds started to dissipate.

I felt really good to give that huge smile.

Give a warm smile to a random stranger

I have a to do list of about a 1000 things. I always tell myself “I will finish them when I get home”.

As soon as I get home, I eat dinner and crash. The digestion of the dinner gets me every time. I crawl to the gym which compounds the laziness. By the time I come back, I am in no mood to work. I become a human zombie. Put on some tv and let my brain fry.

The list does not stop growing. It becomes a huge suitcase that I carry around in my mind.

So here is what I did. I left home. Home was a relaxing environment. I went to my local coffee shop, made a list and started working.

Simple as that. Remove yourself from a passive environment to make solid changes.

We have P.E. activity day at school. There were races, tug of war and numerous activities in which all my class children went wild.

The last activity consisted of grouping up with your Mom or Dad and having a dance contest. The speaker requested that all children with a parent please stand up. I turned around to see all my students stand up and cup their parents hand. 3 boys in my class room were seated. “Where are your parents” I asked.  ”Not here” they replied.

A very distant image came to mind. The image of my past in my High School when my parents never showed up. I remember the emptiness I had felt. Quickly I raised my hand and said “I am your father” and the kids leaped from the ground and grabbed my hand.

It was a very humbling experience. I hope it made their day better.

The title sounds a bit odd, but the story is not.

Teaching in Korea has brought some amazing experiences for me. Recently, one of the locals that takes the bus with me has made an effort to become my friend. His english speaking level is very poor but he is trying very hard.

We have only met once and we went out for dinner. It was a very delightful experience because I got to learn a lot more about Korea. I also met his wife and younger son.

This dinner came at a time when I felt extremely home sick. I am thankful for this dinner because it helped me realize how a random stranger can change your day.

I have not challenged my mind as of late. After university I have succumbed to working and right after work I play video games to relax. In this exercise my brain has lapsed its analytical thinking. To combat this, I have started to partake in mind challenging activities; Chess, Sudoko and solving Jig- Saw puzzles. Playing these games is more fun than watching TV or playing video games.

Bad habits are difficult to break. They creep up like a disease and stick around. Lost in the habit, one looses perspective. The essence of the habit is to seek something. Maybe momentary pleasure, maybe distraction from the real issue.

For me, it is smoking. A habit I had once gotten rid of has come alive in the last couple of months. There is no reason or justification for it. I started with one, two and then started buying packs. Before I knew it, I was taking numerous breaks at work just so I could smoke. Smoking gave me an escape. Escape from the pressures of work and allow me to just take a breather. However, the breather literary killing me.

The result of smoking impacted my gym life AKA cardio (no brainer there)!. During this time, a co-worker offered me a smoke. My eyes locked on the butt sticking out of the pack, I inhaled deeply and said “No”. Upon saying No, I felt a sense of strength. My inner strength and confidence was awakening from its slumber I assume.

I was feeling like crap today. I think the weekend tooks it toll on my body. Even though I was feeling crappy, I was just good enough to squeeze my 15 min cardio. I am happy about that.

Tomorrow the full routine.

I always wanted to jump out of bed, embrace the day and go running. However, I wake up by dragging my body out of bed and fighting very hard against gravity. In most cases gravity wins and so does the snooze button. Who wants to get out of a warm and cozy bed?

This morning I changed it up. I pulled myself out of bed. Got slapped in the face by the cold and did 10 jumping jacks. Jumping jacks might seem simple to do but try doing it the first thing in the morning. Was a challenge but it felt great.

Time to rinse and repeat.

The burn is the most enjoyable thing in life. Well, it depends on how you look at it. I got this concept from the legendary muscle man, Arnold. In his documentary Pumping Iron, Arnold describes the difference between first and second place. The person in second place will do all the reps, but as soon as his muscles feel a burn he stops. The person who wants to come in first place will keep going through the burn.

I never grasped this concept until I applied it at the gym last week. I always lightly jog on the treadmill and think “this is the fastest I could go”, however I kept raising the speed at 30 second intervals until I could not do it any longer. I hated it, but when I got off the treadmill I was all smiles. There is nothing like give it your all. I kept telling myself “Feel the burn and push, just keep pushing”.

Are you stalling anywhere in life? Pick an area and push through it with your hardest effort. Forget the conclusion just focus on the journey.

The power of music is sometimes very underrated and taken for granted. A dear friend of mine sent me a song she had recorded. The title of the song was called “Seize the day”. Coincidentally I had been going through a rough patch. When the tune hit my ears, I realized the beauty of music.

Listen to an inspiring song and shake your bon-bon.