Being Good To Yourself

Being Good to Myself

As I am growing older I am finding it easier to be good to myself. It is still a challenge but I'm getting better at. When I was younger all I seem to do was work and try to improve myself. I was always under stress and rarely took time just to enjoy myself. During my temporary retirement I have learned how to have some fun.For many years I felt guilty about having fun. I felt that if I was not working towards accomplishing some goal I was wasting my time. This was a concept that was drilled into me from the schools I attended. The worst thing that could happen to you was that you would end up a failure. If you didn't work hard to excel at everything that you did you were told that you were on the road to failure. We still live in a society that is very success driven. Yes, some people do succeed but they often pay a high price for it.

Now I like to take it easy on myself. If I feel like taking a couple of hours just to listen to an audio book or watch a TV show I will do it. I will now tell myself that it is beneficial to my health to enjoy life is much as I can. This is one of the advantages of getting older. Today, I helped my wife getting a program set up on the computer. After this I enjoyed my daily trip to the dog park with my two dogs. When I take my dogs to the dog park I get a fair amount of exercise and it does not seem like work to me. Later in the day I went to the gym and have full body workout. It was a short workout but I was able to include all the muscle groups. Exercise is now something that I have to make a priority whether I like it or not. Up until I was about 40 years old I was able to keep my weight down. The only problem was I had been a heavy smoker for about 20+ years and this was taking a heavy toll on my health. I looked good but I didn't feel good. My doctor had told me several times that my health was not likely to improve unless I quit smoking. For a time quitting smoking seem nearly impossible to me. Somehow, through the use of smoking cessation products like Nicorette gum I was able to control my desire for cigarettes. Before that I had an insatiable appetite for cigarettes. I would smoke every chance I had during the day. These days I might still smoke one cigarette per day but I really have no desire to return to being a heavy smoker. My health has definitely benefited by this lifestyle change except for one thing. Over the years I have put on a great deal of weight. I have heard that as you get older your metabolism slows down. After several years had passed I found that controlling my weight every bit is challenging as controlling my desire to smoke. I absolutely hate dieting. Fortunately however, I enjoy a few forms of exercise. Like I have said before, I enjoy walking with my dogs in the dog park. Before my bike got stolen I would try to get in at least one ride per dayon my mountain bike. We are now into our winter season in Canada and I will likely wait till the spring to buy a new mountain bike. The way I look at it is that if I can still exercise I am not that old. Working out with weights at the gym however, is becoming more of a battle for me. To control your weight is a good idea to include some weight resistance training. Weight training is not as much fun as walking my dogs or riding my mountain bike. However, I am going to persevere and try to get in three or four weight workouts per week. It is hard to look good when you are seriously overweight. It is also difficult to have a good self image when you look in the mirror and don't like what you see. I am trying not to be too hard on myself. I have certainly put in a good effort as far as the exercise program goes.

The problem with hobbies is that they can sometimes turn into work depending upon your attitude towards them. I am not a good guitar player but yet I feel guilty when I don't practice. Why I don't know. I am certainly too old and not good enough to join a band. The answer I think is just to develop a positive attitude towards your life. You must make it a priority to be good to yourself. You must accept yourself as you are. I try to tell myself that although there are many things that I do not do well there are a few things that I do do well.