From The Wire: Update #4
I can hardly believe that my journey east began 25 days ago. Through this transition into a new environment and turning a new page with my career, I’ve been able to maintain relative stability while all seeming normalcy should have come crashing down.
I feel like I have uprooted all my routines; eating, exercising, relationships, having quiet personal space, etc. So making the drastic move and leaving everything that was comfortable is something that has required focus on my health, both mental and physical. Before I left Denver, I felt on top of my life routines and stable physically and mentally, and I wanted to make sure I kept it that way.
This is a crocheted bicycle I found in SoHo. Speechless.
So what have I done exactly to stay healthy you ask? Well, I’ll tell you!
Mental health is something that ebbs and flows for every individual. It’s dependent on the people you’re around and the situations you’re experiencing. For the most part, I’ve always felt mentally stable. I’ve always known when to professionally unplug and avoid burn out. I’ve known how to maintain a healthy mental balance ever since high school (and maybe before). I’ve learned to live in the moment and not being preoccupied has always been an important thing for me to focus on. I have family preoccupation “tendencies” that I do a good job suppressing.
I have always made it a point to surround myself with friends who are supportive of being slow and living in the moment. Recently, my friend Alyssa reminded of this through her eloquent writing. She writes about various life passages and about experiences and thoughts she’s had in conversations with some of our mutual friends. She says that “there’s no reason to get to the next chapter, this is the book you chose.” Two mutual friends she mentions in this post are Derik and Lee. They are two friends very dear to me that have given me room to slow down.
Physical health is a little less obscure. When possible, I’ve used biking for transportation, I try to walk as much as possible, or take the stairs. If it’s available to me, I’ll stop by a local farmer’s market or go to the grocery store to buy my food. To the point of sickness, I fill my diet with veggies, fruits, and nuts. To the point of being like an old man, I maintain healthy sleeping patterns. To the point of looking like a hypochondriac, I avoid touching my hands to my face and wash them whenever soap and water are present (thanks Uncle Fred!). In theory, I think physical health is the easiest to maintain but realistically the easiest to slip up on. Food can be so fast and oh so unhealthy. The subway or car ride can be so quick but so much more encouraging of a sedentary lifestyle. It takes work but can be one of the most important means of staying healthy.
Most important for me, however, something that influences the way I stay healthy beyond anything else, is to maintain a positive attitude. I think for a lot of people, this can be the hardest rule to follow. It’s all too easy to be pulled into being negative. For me it is similar to living in the moment, you can choose to make circumstance better by having a positive attitude and choosing to not bring everyone else down. I’ve been stretched with this so many times and in so many ways but in the end a positive attitude is paramount to maintaining a healthy attitiude.
Biking down the Hudson River Greenway one Sunday morning!
So that’s it… fresh veggies, fresh fruits, nuts, exercise and a positive attitude. I’d love to hear from you all if you have any thoughts. Make sure you check out my friends’ blog over at Journey To A Better Man (I should totally do a spoof site called Journey to a Better Mann, har har!) for providing me with the inspiration to write about becoming a better man. Oh! And my parents for raising me well 
