Collecting As A Hobby

I have been always amazed of people assembling collection of just about anything; mugs, shots, rubbers, pencils, stones, matches, etc... I wonder if it gives them a sense of security or it is an expression of an emotional status.

I am not a fan of collections, I feel that by collecting I will become attached. With attachment I am immobile, I am stuck. I have to fit what I love in my bag. If it doesn't then it is not mine!

After giving this speech.....

I now collect magnets from different corners of this world, they give glimpses to the things that caught my attention in the country I am visiting. I have no idea when or how it started.
And I am not sure if I am attached to them? If I am stuck? I hope not. I just collect them for the fun & pleasure of coloring my dull metal door at home :-)

My collection is nice but it is not comparable with the Magnet Lady who owns 29,000 magnets as of February 2002 according to the British "Book of alternative records". I don't want to compete with her not even in my wildest dreams.

My Recipe to Happiness

At a certain point of my life to be more specific in June 2003 I decided that life is not worth living. Life is ugly, hard, tough and not fair. So, I took the decision that either I find my way to happiness no matter what I go through or....

After 5 years of my decision, I can say I am happy this does not mean that life got much better! My secret recipe might be applicable to others.

First -Happiness is now, not when I get a better job, more money, or find a partner. No more postponing. My happiness is met with minimal conditions, in indifference if my “if conditions” are met or not.

Second- What happened has happened in the past. It shaped me, made me who I am. I am grateful for all what I went through. I tired hard to deal with my past, pain, & agony. I did my best to get over it & let it go. Sometimes past do pop up again but now I have better things to focus on :-)

Third – Over the years I cultivated good habits through daily practice. I no longer put effort to do them but I can't claim it was easy. My new routine allowed me to maintain a certain momentum of happiness even when things go wrong. What have worked for me are:

• Keeping my gratitude list active
• Nurturing my relationships; specially my 1^st circle of relations
• Doing some random acts of kindness to strangers & people I love
• Exercising; walking, swimming, playing squash, etc..
• Connecting to nature, spending as much time as I can out doors
• Contemplating on beauty; sunset, sea, mountains, kids clouds, smell of flowers, delicious food
• De-cluttering- I no longer keep things I don't use in a year. I no longer keep books from university days or documents from my work, or cloth that I don't wear. I enjoy giving stuff away.

Fourth- Happiness is my internal status not the result of life circumstances. I do get sad when my company lay me off, when my relationship with my partner is spiraling down, when.. when. But they don't knock me down or let me lose my insight on the other great things in my life. By having happiness as my ultimate goal I became healthier, stronger, more helpful, creative, and willing to try new things.

Tweeting what I said: Happiness is achivable coz it is state of mind that consist of positive emotions and & positive activities.

May we all be happy.

Progressing From Motivation To Habit

Even though I love working out & I fully realize its value. It was not easy to maintain a daily work out. After several trials and errors during the years, I prevailed. So how I managed to make working out equal to brushing my teeth. Here are my tips:

Mental Attitude
I developed a mental attitude that working out is not a pleasure it is a necessity for my well being; not less important than eating healthy food, sleeping, brushing my teeth.
Another mental trick; it is a pleasure to have physical pain and my muscles sourness reflects my progress.

Working out Objectives
I set different objectives each season/month; it helps me to accommodate work, social, and personal commitments. Examples; If I have to be early at work this means for that week I workout 45 minutes. Less is better than nothing. In summer, I concentrate on swimming & aqua aerobics; while winter is for weights lifting & yoga.

Set Regular Time
I workout on a regular time every day; my preference is in the mornings. Simply because I clear my mind, restore my energy, get my time alone, and I don't worry if I will be stuck at work or with any social commitment. I tried exercising after working hours but at that time I am hungry or tired. Besides, I get energized to do nothing (watching TV) and worse I end up eating most of my evening.

Working out Is An Appointment
I am busy and have a lot of commitments; but I plan my weekly working out as any other appointment that I have to keep, and it is jotted down on my calendar.

Logging
I log what I exercised; aka minutes of meetings :-) It helps me to know how I am progressing & percentage of how much of my objects are met.

Enough Sleep & Food
I make sure I sleep enough hours and eat healthy food. How would I mange to get out of bed if I just had a couple of sleeping hours. I am not into hurting or knocking myself down.

No Working out
I hate obligations & guilt feelings; I am not into making working out a burden. So I made sure to know when I am not exercising.
My "No Working out" List is:

• One of the weekend days I rest
• No workout when I am injured
• I exercise lightly when I have flu
• On business trips, I can skip if there is no time or space to work out
• On vacations; I skip if my mood is set on Lazziness
  

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

How much I love to workout?!

A loooot. I found the heaven of working out when I decided to quit smoking. I guess I replaced a bad addiction with a better one :-)

I am not going here to preach on how to be motivated. But, I managed to get up most mornings for the past 8 years to workout, Why?

- I keep my sanity- Every single day I get out all my disappointments, anger, frustration, negative feelings, in straight forward words I practice a Daily Emotional Detoxification

- I have sustainable source of energy

- It is MY time; not for friends, family, or work

- I add life to my life. Walking seaside, hiking in a forest, playing squash with friends, cycling on an island. Wow; who could say working out is an obligation

- I stay connected with nature; sun, sea, wind.

- I become a genius; I find solutions. Not sure my concentration has got any better ;-)

- I am worry-less about gaining weight. I have space to worry about other things!

- Being fit gave me confidence to try new activities and challenges

- Shy to admit but I really love to touch and feel my muscles

- And finally, maybe I managed to add a couple of healthy years to my life.

Home

I am wandering away, with no exact destination... I neither know the way back Home, nor do I know the way ahead!