Summer's Setting

BANK HOLIDAY BLOW OUT

The summer has nearly come to a close. There's been some hard partying for more but It's been even more concentrated in this whirlwind month of August because of my girlfriend's 40th birthday. We've been celebrating for 4-6 weeks at least. Making the most of the sunshine and our longer days for socialising, has meant there's been little regular exercise, no budgeting and not enough focus on learning or bettering myself. 

Keeping Track

Thankfully, I put a lot of hard work doing a yoga session every day for 4-6 weeks prior to this excessive period - preparing myself in the run up to the big 40th birthday. It's kept me going where so many would have gotten Ill. 

My best trick for keeping on top of things, has been the daily diary. Not only has it helped me take daily assessments, but it's also helped me remember my movements on a daily basis too. This has been very handy for remembering those potentially lost nights! So, last week, I returned from my holiday in Spain and discovered that I'd put on over 3kg (6-7lbs). This whole week, I've been watching my intake by writing down everything that enters my mouth and working out the calories consumed per day. My daily diary and weekly blog posts that I've been doing since the 1st Jan 2015, coupled with the daily food/drink calorie watch, have really helped me stay balanced. Under the circumstances, that's quite an achievement. Something so simple, yet effective, has meant that I could get through a period of craziness and come out the other end being perfectly ok. 

Closing Party

In a way, I'm glad to see all the leaves turning brown and the party season coming to a close once again. I am looking forwards to my return to mindful mornings of learning, exercising and improving my physical & mental wellbeing. I have some commitments that need to be met - my daily exercise routine plus a consistent study of languages, understanding body & mind, now needs to get underway. The next few months should see a return to form, especially now the other temptations are removed from my life. Summer - it's been fun, but I'm moving on to an early Autumn, thanks very much!

Holiday From A Holiday

THE GETAWAY

The holiday getaway - perfect for recharging the batteries - just as a true holiday should be. But for me somehow, it always seems to be the opposite. Rest and recuperation are what is needed after this current Spanish adventure. 

When we have a routine to follow, we tend to fit in our r&r around the busy schedule of work commitments. So, we make the necessary allowances for keeping the fun/work balance in check. 

Having time carefully measured out between the essentials of working, exercising and having fun, plus being watchful of the money through mindful budgeting and cost saving decisions, means the time is well spent keeping a good balance in life and the bank account too. There's not too much excess because work needs to get done and there's budgets for food in the week, plus better choices made for taking in the right food at home, work and for exercising. But when we go on holiday, with so much time on our hands, plus the restraints removed for getting ourselves up and into work, it means the balance is completely thrown off. Over-indulgence of alcohol, rich food, over spending in flashy restaurants every night and a lot of laying around, are all going to make a significant difference with thinning the wallet and fattening the waistline, And that's why I now need a holiday from the holiday. 

I'm actually looking forward to having a break from fun and focussing more on getting quality sleep, better nutrition, regular workouts and saving money. A boot camp reset to salvage the damage done over the last few months of summer. So big has this summer been, that I'm going to rein in the fun a good three months earlier than I did with starting last year's restraints! 

We all need to be more mindful of our daily actions. That's why recording everything in a blog/diary is so helpful. The first thing will be to catch up on sleep. The second will be to regain the figure. The ultimate goal from September, is to clear up my hefty debts. So in my daily dairy, I'll be noting the non-drinking rule, there'll be a calorie watching food diary plus an exercise routine to-do check list to adhere to - a very conscious recovery update which I'll be including in my weekly posts. 

The Rat Race

CHASING THE WHEEL

The rat race is a tough competition with all the other rats if we really want to get ahead in life.

Just treading the wheel, is hard enough in itself - but to truly succeed, is a lot harder than we maybe realise. Money is required to keep our heads above water. We need it to survive and to enjoy life. Wherever your social standing in life is, money will play a key factor in how fast the hamster wheel is spinning. When there's prosperity, the wheel slows, but in a downturn, money is squeezed from the middle classes as the blue bloods work even harder to retain their wealth - in turn, this forces the lower class workforce into grafting longer hours with even lower wages. The wheel spins faster for every one of the rats. Money becomes harder to make across the board, let alone keep. 

These last 6 years have seen my fortunes decrease and stress levels rise considerably - all in my pursuit of money. Councils, accountants, solicitors, governing institutions like the DVLA and the banks, have all been making significant money from any of my small gains made over this period. Yet, the amount of work, worry and stress from keeping all of these institutions happy, has hardly been worth it for me. I'm just treading water. So, I'm considering giving it all up. Freedom from house and car ownership, means freedom from all the money-draining connections too. Less mail to answer, schemes to join, less taxes to pay, fines and bank interest to let slip through the fingers - and less time used up, sleep lost and stress manifested. All this extra effort chasing the money, has not worked out to be enough of a gain, considering all the extra efforts invested. So, less spends and more free time through removing these extra financial burdens, means less time treading that wheel. There has to be an easier, more carefree way to succeed in life?

I looked into the money less ways of living last year - yet, still not been to see what an off-grid place is/entails, or spent time as a Woofer. This should be something I at least try doing for a weekend - and something I likely need to do on my own.

The Pursuit Of Fun

A QUEST FOR HAPPINESS

Too much of a good thing. Too much of the same thing and too much of doing the same good thing until it affects our ability to work and compromises our health. That's when something once good, ceases to be a good thing any more. 

There's many things that we can do to enjoy ourselves. When we do the same thing too much, it can certainly lose it's appeal but it might also be affecting our wellbeing. Before the monotony indicates where the fun has vanished, the negative effects may already have taken their hold. So, it's likely already time for us to keep a check on these things which we call 'fun' – to see if they really are still fun – then substitute the activities that are possibly having a detrimental effect on our lives, with some new pursuits of happiness. 

Summers are short – particularly in the UK. They are mostly focussed around grabbing some sunshine, meeting with friends and celebrating life. Concerts, festivals, bank holidays and crazy party weekends – these are the focus points regularly featuring in the lives of the young and chased-upon by the those getting older too. 

So, what is it that gives such an appeal to a weekend of abandon – either in a field, club or around a friend's house? I believe it is a right to enjoy our 'freedom', break some taboos and get a little too inebriated or miss out on some sleep over the weekend. Because, for many of us, the only time to fully enjoy ourselves, is on those two days that are remaining after a working week.

So, it's tough to go home early on a Friday night or stay indoors on a Saturday when our friends are going out – or do very little on a Sunday in preparation for another busy week at work, when it's known that the next five days will be mostly work, eat, sleep, repeat. 

What is much tougher, is to swap the drinking/partying lifestyle with other pursuits that make us feel as happy. What is there that's better than getting a little twisted, dancing, meeting new people and from what it feels like at that moment...experiencing happy fun times? It really does feel like the ultimate expression of freedom and the birth-given right for those lucky enough to not be living under oppressive regimes or in dangerous war-torn parts of the world. 

What alternatives are there – so readily available and relatively in-expensive? What can give as much lasting fun, reward and fulfilment? This question, over coming weeks/months, is what I intend to find out – to discover and to break away from the current pattern of abandonment, that becomes our pursuit of happiness in the summer months.