A Restless Life

In life, we all go through cycles.  We undergo the lows and highs of experiences, often as we’re trying to better ourselves or others through learning new skills, improving some aspect of our life or body, or teaching others.  But something that I have struggled with is taking myself too seriously at times.  And, as with some many other faults that I possess, I can now recognize it and see it play out in the lives of others, particularly in my professional life, but also personally from time to time with friends and family.  It's hard, because as we go through life, we gain certain perceptions of ourselves that we don’t want to let go of.  This begins at an early age and continues throughout life, as we have milestones to reach in school, financial goals to achieve, and a certain image that we want to portray to those closest to us and more broadly out to the world.  All these little pressures can bound us in a sense, tying our successes in these to our sen...

This week, we begin with in Joshua marking a critical point in the flight from Egypt.  The passage begins with God removing the reproach of Egypt, transitioning the Israelites from wanderers subsisting on manna provided from above to settlers who are able to celebrate the Passover from cultivating the land.  And it is easy to hear the Psalm sang out by these Israelites, as they are able to tangibly taste and see the realization of God's promise to Moses.  Those who are still with them have been faithful and trusting of the Lord, and they have been rewarded. The second reading provides a great transition linking the first reading to the Gospel.  St. Paul reminds us that we must allow ourselves to be made anew by God.  Through this Lenten season, we should be focusing on this message, ridding ourselves of our sinful habits and to be reconciled in the new life that Jesus and God have prepared for us.  We must be like the Israelites who found themselves marking...

The 2% Way by Dr. Myron L. Rolle, MD MSc “Let your actions be driven by your expectations for yourself, not external forces” Summary : First, let me say that this book will make you feel that you have underachieved, no matter how much you’ve accomplished.   Dr. Rolle is a former No.1 football recruit who played at the highest level collegiately, graduated early, passed on the NFL draft the first time as he accepted a Rhodes Scholarship, then was drafted in the NFL, bounced around teams for a few years, went to medical school, and became a neurosurgeon.   Needless to say, he has quite an interesting perspective on what it takes to achieve lofty goals.   Dr. Rolle focuses on small incremental improvements every day to get 2% better.   While the terminology of “getting 2% better” was introduced to him in college by one of his coaches, this method was already ingrained in him as he had been achieving his own lofty goals and practicing a high level of self-restra...

Continuing along our Lenten journey, we first find ourselves with Moses encountering the burning bush and God's revelation to Abraham's descendants.  I did do a little research and found that Moses was part of the fourth generation of Israelites living in Egypt since coming there with Joseph during the famine.  We see today that God has heard the laments of His chosen people.  We all know how Moses was empowered by God to deliver them from their oppression in Egypt and begin their journey back to the land promised to them.  From this, we see that God will keep His promises to us.  We may not know how or when, but this story, along with the Psalm, reassure us that God will provide. In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminds us to learn from others.  It seems odd, given that in my experience humans are naturally curious and observant creatures.  And yet, we consistently make the same mistakes again and again that we have witnessed previously, either by othe...

In wrapping up my three-part entry into taking care of yourself, we’ll focus on the spirit.  Given the general nature of my blog here, you can assume that I’d devote most of this post to Catholicism and adherence to doctrine.  And while I will end with that, I think it’s important first to touch on a broader aspect that gets lost in these modern times, and that is community.  Homo sapiens are a social species – we are hard-wired to thrive in groups.   Yet with technology’s ever-growing presence, it becomes easier with each new app and tech fad to withdraw from the physical world and retreat into the virtual world.   It is easy to get lost in a virtual reality and lose touch with those around you, immersing yourself in singular viewpoints and only searching for confirmation, not connections.   Our desire to belong isn’t fulfilled online, it is only temporarily sated with an inferior product.   Physical interactions are essential to our well-being. ...

This week, I struggled in my first read through to find the common thread that I wanted to write about.  I think part of it was being distracted by the "big" events that are taking place, with God's promise to Abram in the First Reading and the Transfiguration depicted in the Gospel.  And with the weighty bookends on either side, I set my focus into St Paul's letter to look for the link, and, sure enough, there it was. I am unable to fathom being a witness to either of the great events described today, where God comes down to us.  Despite that, St Paul's letter spells out just how we fit into the Divine Order of the world around us.  We are made to be citizens of heaven and to dwell in glorified bodies, not these mortal ones.  And the path towards that is through God - and in the Psalm, we sing that the Lord is our salvation and life.   So with the theme and link established, what can we take away from the other readings, as we are unlikely to experien...

We are going to look into metal wellness as we are stepping into part two of our three-part series.  And piggy-backing on with our last topic, sleep is key to keeping our mental capabilities at peak performance, as the downtime is much needed and required as we continually add, purge, and modify our knowledge and memory databases.  Maintaining good mental health requires us to take care of our cognitive, social, and emotional abilities.  Staying sharp in these areas will aid with keeping our mind sharp for the long haul.  Exercising our brain takes a similar discipline and a targeted approach similar to muscular fitness, and as we age this becomes more important.  In looking to keep cognitive faculties engaged, we need to pull away from our screens and actively use the brain.   This can take form in reading, doing puzzles, or learning a language, where we are using parts of our brains to inform what we’re doing.   Another more active aspect of traini...

As we begin Lent this week, the readings do a great job of providing context to our journey over the next six weeks.  In the First Reading, Moses recalls their journey from the promised land down to Egypt and their return.  An important note was made in his recollection, and that was the call of the people to their God.  As we prepare ourselves throughout this season, we need to call on God to help us and give us strength, whether in our fasting, abstaining, almsgiving, or other actions that we have taken during this time to strengthen our relationship with God.  This message is echoed in the Psalm, as we sing out to the Lord to help us when troubles comes our way.   In the Second Reading, the context of Lent builds as St. Paul reminds us the bigger picture.  God sent Jesus into the world to die for us, and through His Love raised Jesus from the dead.  Keeping this in mind throughout Lent, and the rest of the year, is a great reminder of the great...

As we begin our journey in Lent, I figured I would put a quick note out about the readings today for Ash Wednesday and post my regular reflection tomorrow for the weekend's set of readings.  Ash Wednesday has always had a certain "specialness" to it in my life.  Growing up attending a Catholic school, it was a day that marked a change and didn't come with the pomp and circumstance of the other holy days - like Easter, Christmas - but was strictly about the message of the day.  Even my grandparents, who didn't attend mass often and weren't overly religious, fasted on Ash Wednesday and abstained from meat on Fridays throughout Lent.  It is weird how certain days with such outward signs (the fasting throughout the day and/or receiving ashes on your forehead) has a draw to those who long to be a part of it. However, that is where the readings come in, as we need to have the right conviction and reasons behind the actions.  As Jesus reminds us, it is imperative to ...

To be the best version of yourself, both for you and those around you, you need to feel good about yourself.  Starting from any other position just doesn't make sense.  You may not be in peak health physically, mentally, or spiritually, but you have to be happy with your direction.  These, to me, are the three distinct components to well-being, and today we’re focusing on the first: your physical health.  A key component to this is having a proactive plan that best suits your goals and gets you to where you want to be.  There are a variety of factors that impact your physical health, but taking the proactive approach to heart, these all fall under my umbrella term of preventative maintenance.  When beginning to assess where you stand and what areas are there for improvement, analyze your habits with regards to diet, exercise, medical upkeep, and sleep. I’m a believer in the old axiom: crap in, crap out.   If you don’t take care to prioritize your nut...