1) Living a healthy lifestyle and enjoying it – By making changes to my life I have reduced the risk of a stroke, heart disease, cancer and many other diseases. I have done all of this with food that I actually enjoy. Recipes like Fruit and Nut Bars or Coconut Flavored Chocolate actually make me feel like I am eating something that can’t possibly be good for me. I don’t feel like I am missing anything and I am eating healthy. I also enjoy working out and actually do workouts that have quite a bit of variation. I compete in Mud Runs and Obstacle Races. I hike and spend a lot of time out doors.
I actually thought about what it would be like to have a stroke and survive. I would not want to be a burden on others and I definitely would not want be paralyzed on one side due to a stroke. Obviously there are other things that could happen to me but I would rather limit my health risks.
2) Finding my passion – Experiencing Life the way it was meant to be experienced – Live and do things that make me feel alive. Do things that are fun. For me it is competing and challenging myself. 20 years without it is a long time. It’s working out. It’s helping others achieve a healthy lifestyle. Hearing that I made a difference in someone else’s life actually motivates me even more.
Someone else could actually use their own body transformation to help them find what they are missing. Turns out that it is much more than just a body transformation. Maybe they haven’t discovered it yet. If that is the case or if they haven’t pursued it maybe it is for the same reason that it took me so long to find mine. Or at least to reconnect with it. I was consumed with work. I didn’t know how to allocate my time. Giving myself a break to do the things that I love actually makes me more efficient with work. It also makes me realize the wasted time that I spent. My passion might actually become work. I doubt that I will complain about that. No excuses. If I want to do something I do it. I won’t make excuses on why I can’t do them and I won’t wait on others to do them with me. If someone else wants to come along great. (I use to see or hear about things that I wanted to try or do and would wait for someone to come along. If I continued to wait I still might not have done my first Mud Run/Obstacle Race. 3 friends did the Spartan Race with me in Fenway Park the other day.) If not, I’m on my own. Fine with me. It’s my passion not theirs. If someone’s passion is knitting I probably won’t be able to find the time to spend on knitting with them. But if that makes them happy great. Your passion may not have to do with training or nutrition or mud runs/obstacle races (however, try a mud run and see if you don’t get hooked). It amazes me how many people have told me for the last year that they want to do one of the races and still haven’t. That kind of accomplishment does hook people). If you don’t have time to spend on your passion, make the time. You will be happy that you did. It will change your life.
3) Spending time with family, friends and my dogs Bailey and Riley – It’s nice when it involves my passion but like I said not everyone will spend the time on mine. Just make memories and memorable times. Have fun.
When I do die, I want to be able to say that I lived life the way that I wanted to live it. That I enjoyed it and didn’t waste a day.
I’m sure that I can go on and on but I have only recently started to reprioritize my life and these are the things that I am spending time on now. Learn to S.W.I.M.™ and find your passion.
Evolve My Life ™ 