S.A.I.D. Principle

This is a principle that I learned in school.

 It means that when the body is placed under some form of stress, it starts to make adaptations that will allow the body to get better at withstanding that specific form of stress in the future.

The SAID principle is generally applied to athletes that need to train for a specific sport.  Do they need to focus on speed, on power, on endurance?  Athletes train on the field and in the weight room for not only their sport, but their specific position.

I have begun to consider how many other areas of life that the SAID principle can be applied.

• If I sit on the couch and eat junk all day, my body adapts and becomes really good at coping with that specific habit.
• As I meditate more often, my body is becoming more adept at relaxing quickly.  I am not carrying stress in my shoulders nearly as much.
• Though paddleboarding involves a great core workout, my abs were really sore after returning to the gym’s sit-up chair.
• I have heard that many writers write something everyday.  Even if it is not directly related to a current project, it can improve writing.
• If faking a smile can make you happy, can whining make you more miserable?

What are you adapting to?

The Smokers’ Bench

She wore a delicately cute outfit, what there was of it. Sitting coolly, smoking one last cigarette before her flight, she stared out at the dark void of the early morning. Her perfume wafting to passerbys lending to the sensory barrage of sounds, smells and activity of the security zone. Bleached hair and an unnaturally even tan, revealed her older than her long legs and shoulders spilling from her halter jumpsuit would have implied.

Highlights on Living

Today’s six month highlight list includes posts for life management and general tips.

1. Advanced Directives
2. Don’t Take Things so Seriously
3. Taking Care of Your Teeth
4. GIGO
5. Personal Mission Statements
6. Scheduling Priorities 
7. Dating
8. Crucial Conversations
9. The Melting Pot of Ideas and People
10. Tennis Ball Uses

GIGO

Garbage in, garbage out.  This is an computer term referring to notion that if you put bad programming or information in, that the computer can only give you bad information back.  So many things seem to operate on the same principle.  If you eat garbage, you feel like garbage.  Since I have been juicing, I feel better.  Since I have been reading many lovely blogs about health and taking the time to enjoy beauty in world, I have a more positive and calm perspective on life’s challenges.  I am not ready to give up my DVR, but I will be more conscious about what I voluntarily expose myself to going forward.

Mission Statements

A few years back I was in a course that had its participants construct a personal mission statement.  I had only seen them for corporations prior to that moment.  While I do forget about it from time to time, I  always come back to it.  It has focused my mind when trying to make decisions and has given me an additional sense of purpose.  It also ‘has my back’ in an unexpected way.  It has given me the strength to make decisions that I felt others would think silly or just wrong.  However, in my mind, I knew the decision was true to my mission and therefore a net positive.  To create it, I began by identifying my various roles in life (ex: sister, daughter, employee).  Then my weakness and strengths.  What would I want others to describe me as?  I looked for inspiration and found it in a quote from Gandhi (or as one website suggests not really him).  My mission statement:

Mind and Body Connection

The mind-body connection

Many people set out every day to make more healthful decisions.  Some start with diet and some with exercise.  How many of us think of our hearts and minds?

This week, I had the privilege of speaking with a survivor of Katrina and the flood.  To respect her privacy, I will not go into specifics.  She first told me of the storm and the flood.  I believed that she would then go on about how her family was reunited and, well, some Hollywood ending.  That was not to be.  The stress from the aftermath, NOT the storm or levees breaking,  has taken the lives of several of her family members and friends.   It almost crushed her.  She has now decided to focus on caring for herself.  “A little me time”, she said.

Stay Strong My Friends

There are a lot of things that can put a dent in your armor as you make your way through the world.  Some are small.  Like, loosing a brush that you know damn well is in the house.  It’s not like I walk down the street brushin….sorry, I digress.  Some are big, like the illness or a loss of a loved one.  There is a whole cacophony of things in between.  I heard a song this morning that I had not listened to in quite awhile.  It gave me a kick to push on and not stay defeated on the couch.  So, my friends, whether it is injury, weight, love, work, family, exercise or simply loosing a brush, stay strong and fight on!