W is for Will Power (A-Z Challenge)

"Willing is not enough, we must do"

(Goethe)

This will be a very short post today, as work has been tough today and I need to get in the car and drive for four and a half hours. But where there's a will there's a way! Which brings me to my blog post for today....

Have you ever had a new year's resolution that you've not kept? Of course you have. What about a diet? Yes, I know what you mean. I've come to the conclusion that will power is not enough. Just willing it to happen hardly ever works. When it comes to dieting, for example, your body's urges and needs are far more powerful than any will power you can muster. Those urges are the result of millions of years of evolution and they don't give in easily - thankfully, or our very survival would have been at stake. So willing your way to success is not going to work.

In order to overcome this, it's important that you make whatever you want to achieve part of your lifestyle - make it the norm, gradually at first but moving towards the goal with incremental steps. If it's the gym you want to go to regularly, just turn up at first. Don't worry about the workout. Maybe just take a look at the new gym. Next time, just turn up and do 10 minutes. If it's eating healthier food you are interested in, start with changing breakfast only on one day in the week. Buy enough fruit (for example) for that single day's breakfast. Change that one thing, get used to it and build on it. What I'm saying is, start very simply and make it part of your lifestyle. This is not will power, it's just 'what you do'. This starts to build momentum and small incremental steps take very much less will power than trying to make big changes quickly. Trying to do things in a big way is tempting, but resist this temptation - it's counterproductive. As time passes, your brain will accept that this is normal for you and it will become much easier.

I wouldn't tell you this if I hadn't tried it and made sure it works first. Good luck!

N is for Nature (A-Z Challenge)

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people.

I thought, this is what it is to be happy.”

(Sylvia Plath)

You can't be happy all the time. But there are times when happiness just presents itself, unexpectedly. Some of my happiest moments have been when I have been out amongst Nature, usually on a country or mountain walk. One such time I'll always remember was when I visited the USA last year and I was on a walk along the edge of a vast canyon in Canyonlands. It was only a couple of miles to reach a rocky outcrop overlooking the canyon. I climbed as high and as far out to the edge as I could and looked out. I was not prepared for the complete and utter silence encountered there; it seemed to scream in my ears. I could see for miles and miles into the distant haze and the evening sun warmed my face and chest. I just had to sit down at the edge and hope that no-one would disturb the moment. I found it hard to tear myself away, knowing that I would almost certainly never return. It's in moments like this that happiness is a tangible reality, something you can almost touch. And you take it with you when you leave. Most of the time happiness is something you choose. But there are times when it chooses you.

L is for Lifelong Learning (A-Z Challenge)

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.

  Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” 

(Henry Ford)

 

Lifelong learning is inevitable, in one sense. We can't help it: our five senses make sure of that. Everything we experience must teach us something. But what I'm talking about in this blog is deliberate, purposeful enquiry - more than experience. I love the quotation by Henry Ford (above) because it speaks of one of the many fruits of learning - keeping the mind keen and vibrant. It might mean taking a course or going on a journey, reading a book or having a conversation with friends. But it's not the act itself; it's the attitude and intention with which we do it.

When we are children there are good evolutionary reasons for being credulous but when we attain adulthood we begin to come to our own conclusions about life. And we should take full advantage of our innate capability to experience, to reason and to develop our knowledge in a way that shapes our values and stimulates our minds. And as we get older we will know that it was time well spent. Because of lifelong learning we may become old of body but we will be young of mind.

D is for Diary (A-Z Challenge)

"Memory...is the diary we all carry about with us."

(Oscar Wilde)

Almost 23 years ago I began writing a daily diary or journal, prompted by the birth of my first child. The enormity of my new responsibility as a father felt overwhelming and I wanted somewhere to put down my thoughts and feelings. 23 years later I'm still doing it, maybe not with the same intensity as at the beginning, but doing it nonetheless. I wonder how many of you do the same. If you are into writing and reading blogs there's a good chance you are also the sort of person who would keep a diary. Maybe you would say your blog fulfils this purpose.

There are many benefits to keeping a daily diary/journal. It obviously gives you a written history to look back on when you are old and grey; I find that an attractive proposition. Memories, especially the good ones can remain with us for the rest of our lives - how much better to have a written record to prompt that memory. Maybe, as me, you intend to pass them on to your children (I wonder if this is even a good idea) so that they will also remember all the good times with fondness. Of course, some of us may have had bad times in the past and a place to write about them can really help put them into perspective. A diary is a place to go; a chance to be alone with your thoughts; a friend that will never judge you.

I would love to know how many people out there keep diaries/journals. If you feel inclined, let me know.

C is for Change (A-Z Challenge)

"If you always do what you've always done,

you're always gonna get what you've always got!"

(Anon)

I have this quotation scribbled on a piece of paper, pinned to my study notice board. It reminds me that change is not something that comes easily. If there is something in our life that we want to be different we might tend to agonize over it, wish for something different, think long and hard about what it might be like once change has happened and sometimes dream of a better future. But in doing this we also tend to carry on the same way that we always have; visit the same places, see the same people, listen to the same radio station, react in the same way to events in our lives.

Imagine you are walking down the street and a neighbour is coming in the opposite direction. You get that embarrassed 'what am I going to say' feeling and maybe, as usual, you say a quick hello and walk on. Your neighbour does the same. You agonize over not talking more to your neighbour and you think of how it could be different next time. But next time you do exactly the same thing - nothing changes. Then maybe one day, instead of walking on you look your neighbour in the eye, stop and say 'hello, how are you?' Ten minutes later you are still there chatting, even if only about the weather. What a  difference a day makes.

Yes, we can dream, think, worry, agonize and hope. But unless we do something different the chances are that nothing will really change. Is there something in your life that you want to change?

B is for Beauty (A-Z Challenge)

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself." Henry Miller (1891 - 1980)

 

 

Have you ever seen the film American Beauty? I have, many times, for its sheer depth and skill in depicting characters. The main character says something like '...it's hard to be mad when there's so much beauty in the world' right at the end of the film.

 

I know, from experience, that it's very easy to be blind to what's good in life when you are in a low mood. I'm sure those suffering depression will know this all too well. Sometimes we turn inward when we are unhappy and get tied up in our own little world of gloom and everything seems so much worse. But then, have you noticed how much better the world seems when your mood is good? What's changed, the world or just the way you look at the world? Trust me - in most cases the world is exactly as it was yesterday and it's only the way you perceive the world that has changed and that's the reason you feel bad.

 

Sometimes we need to forget ourselves and look with a different eye at the world around us; a person, place, picture, book, a sunrise, a mountain, the sky. You get the picture! In recent days I've been walking a lot and visiting a special place I love, high up overlooking the sea. And each time I have stood and allowed the cold wind to bite my face and listened to the crashing of the surf against the rocks - a simple pleasure bringing big rewards.

A is for Andy (A-Z Challenge)

So here we go for the first blog of the A to Z Challenge...

A is for Andy - that's me! To ease me into this challenge I thought I would say a few words about myself as a way of introduction. This challenge got me thinking about the origin and meaning of my name. Andrew (but call me Andy), it turns out, is of Greek origin (Andreas). I already know it means Man or Warrior, which I kind of like, and another meaning I came across was Manly, which has given my wife and kids hours of fun at my expense! Andrew was also the first chosen of the twelve apostles, which makes me feel very important and Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and Russia - it just gets better!

My intention is to take the A to Z Challenge's advice and keep my April blog posts short and to the point and am hoping that getting up an hour earlier every day to blog will help get me into a routine that will help me write consistently every day along the way to becoming a published writer. I'm looking forward to 'B' already.