The power of exercise

   

     Take a look at the man in the picture.  He’s performing an exercise called deadlifting. The deadlift is considered a power lifting exercise where the lifter takes the barbell off the ground (dead weight) and brings it up to his/her hips.  If you do CrossFit I’m sure you are very familiar with this exercise.  Depending on how much dead weight you decide to life this can be a very strenuous exercise.  Although it is mostly a lower body exercise you do get some benefit in your forearms and lower back. 

    I've told you enough about the exercise itself.  Now I want you to take a look at the expression on the man in this picture.  If you look closely you can see the strain in his face.  Just by looking at his face you can tell he is working hard.  He is giving it his all.  Then take a look at the people around him.  They are all intensely watching.  I would guess they are looking so closely because they are impressed with his technique, the number of reps he’s doing or the amount of weight on the bar.  Those people are like a lot of us.  We watch someone else do something, we feel happy for him/her and if we feel inspired we try to emulate his/her success.  For the 10 people who do try to emulate the success I’m sure there are another 1000 that don't even try.  They may deep down want the success but for whatever reason they aren’t willing to put in the work to get the success they want.  They don’t even have a gym membership.  They would never take on the task of lifting a dead weight.

      When I see this picture it reminds me of another facet of life that I’d wish to talk about in this reminder.  You see man hasn’t invented a way to take a perfect picture of that beautiful thing that can only be found inside our head.  It is a feeling that permeates throughout our entire being.  It is happiness.  Happiness may have different meanings for different people.  Yet no one can deny that someone that is happy is a peace.  Everyone who wants true success has the ultimate goal of being happy. Therefore to achieve happiness you must find peace with yourself and this world.  That peace will never be found if you don't take some action towards that goal.  You cannot sit back and just hope it happens.  You must make it happen just like the guy in the picture straining to do deadlifts to get in shape.  You must make it happen just like the people watching him that will deadlift when he finishes.  You must make it happen by taking the time to get peace of mind.  You must make it happen by taking the time to focus your thoughts on being happy.  You must make it happen by taking the time to address all of the negative resistance that is getting in the way of your happiness. 

     You may find yourself asking, how can I do that?  There are so many approaches you could take.  There are numerous exercises you can do just as there are numerous ways to get in shape.  All you have to do is make the effort to find a way that works for you and then do it.  If you don’t know any good exercises that you can do to help you there are plenty of people out there that you can emulate.  There are books from the New York Best Seller’s list down to the free eBooks on line.  There are movies on Netflix or videos on YouTube.  There are podcasts on the web, on your android phone or ios operating system.  There are mentors you can call that would love to share their successful techniques with anyone who would ask.  You have so many choices.  You just need to take action.  Once you take action by accessing the information you then must take the action to use it.  You can't just read about it.  You can't just watch a movie about it.  You can’t just listen to a podcast about it.  You can't just listen to a mentor. You must take action.  You must not only learn but you must implement.

     For example you can find a meditation routine that works for you and implement it into your daily activities.  You can find ways to acknowledge the negative beliefs you’ve acquired over your lifetime and change them.  You can find ways to increase your awareness so you don’t miss out on the beauty that is right in front of you.  You can find ways to learn your purpose in life, set goals to achieve it and then walk confidently in the reality that it is already achieved.  You can find ways to define your life by writing a script as if it is happening right now.  You can find ways to acknowledge your gratitude for all that you have so that you will receive more of it.  You can find ways to share your love and receive the love from others.  You can find ways to be more present in the now because yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.  There are hourly, daily, weekly or monthly actions you can take to address them all.

    If you take action on the examples above I truly believe you can experience the happiness I currently feel.  In my past I never felt this level of happiness because in the past I never did any of the examples I mentioned above.  Well maybe I did some of them but I didn’t do them with a prescribed technique.  I didn’t understand the true benefit of doing them right.  It’s no different than learning the correct way to do a repetition so your muscles get the most out of the exercise.

      Now that I’ve learned some techniques that work for me I plan on doing them for the rest of my life.  I will follow through with that commitment because I know at this moment, at this time, I am happier than I have felt in my life.  That happiness is what has led to me writing this blog.  I don't think a picture can really truly show you how happy I am.  This would be my best attempt:

 

    

     

     Every one of those pictures was taken within the last 3 years.  That's right around the time that I began my new journey.  That's when I started understanding that I need to take action on focusing on my thoughts.  I learned from many books and hundreds of podcasts how to focus on aligning my thoughts so that I can find my peace.  That peace leads to my happiness.  I know now that only when I am at peace can I access all that has been given to me by my creator.  I was born in his likeness and he has granted me the gift to access all of his power.  I cannot and will not do that until I find peace within my thoughts.  It doesn't matter if you believe in God, Allah, Buddha or the universe, I'm sure you know there is an abundant amount of power available to us all if we find peace within ourselves.  Our only responsibility is to learn how to access it.

     Please take the time to learn and implement some techniques to help you find peace within your mind.  Once you feel that happiness you will be addicted just as I am.  This is one addiction that is definitely good for me.  It's because of that addiction I'm sitting here writing this blog.  I am so happy and at peace I find myself wanting to share with others.  I want you all to emulate everything that I have learned.  I am humbled to know that there is a possibility I might impact one person and help them find their true peace.  I don't have any expectations because the decision is all yours.  It is your choice.  I've made mine and I can only influence you to make yours.  I can't make it for you.  I can only hope that you take the opportunity to do so.  As always I wish you the best and I implore you to enjoy the journey!

With gratitude,

Drew

There are also some free exercises available at https://www.infinitereminders.com/collections/my-reminder?page=1

    Morning Coffee - a gratitude exercise

    Relieve Your Anxiety - an exercise in positive thinking

    Stress Reliever - a meditation exercise

    Get Your Wish - a visualization exercise

 (more to come) and please look through my previous blogs for other resources.