I hear the call of the Ibis

I hear the call of the Ibis

I look up to see their silhouettes

Passing across overcast skies

The air is thick with moisture

It creates a cocoon of silence

A weight that isn’t heavy

Invisible rain drops fall

A symphony for bird song

Pulling forth earth’s fragrance

Green surrounds me

Clean and fresh

Soothing my eyes, my heart, my soul

It is early morning

A fleeting moment in time 

Can I hold it for a little longer?

Where Your Focus Goes

We all hear phrases, quotes and the like all the time; but every now and then one will stick itself in your head and will change something about you. It kind of becomes a driving force, a talisman almost.

This happened to me again a couple of days ago when I heard a song called Energy (by a band called Disclosure) - the main sentence in the song goes like this “WHERE YOUR FOCUS GOES, YOUR ENERGY FLOWS". I heard this while I was walking (naturally) and my gosh, it made sense to me..

I’ve always maintained that your focus should be on doing what you are doing - mindfully and completely. Yes, of course you must have an ultimate goal that you want to achieve, but it is very important to understand this is not an end point. The entire process, the experiences, the learning, the disappointments, and the achievements are all as important. If you chase the wrong thing, it just becomes that much harder to get where you want.

In my context, I have a desired weight I would like to reach, but if that is my sole focus, then I am going to be disappointed and ineffective in my process to get there. Instead, I choose to focus on strength, endurance, fitness, inches and eventually weight. I focus on making myself feel good and proud. And I never forget to applaud my achievements along the way.

Here's to a 550 day streak of working hard

Interlude

 

In my mind I see the ocean below me and the sky above.

The ocean feels like memories and days past. The calm seas of good times and the occasional stormy ones. They wash over me periodically, embrace me, then recede back to their own ever moving cycle. Leaving me a little changed each time.

The sky is filled with infinite possibilities, of endless dreams and a future unseen. It’s a clean slate of new ideas, of novel experiences and forever chances. It shows me how much more there can be if I just step into it. 

At the edge of these two beautiful worlds, lies a horizon, that is there and yet isn’t. As if it is made up of both the ocean & the sky and yet it is an entity of its own. 

I realise, this is me. I live in moments between nostalgia and fantasy. My life is but an interlude!

Gratitude

When the light is soft and a fragrant flower blooms,

When the breeze is gentle and the birds are singing,

When humans are silent.

Close your eyes. 

Reach out with your soul.

Take it all in and then give it back. 

Heal with every breath,

Absorb the peace,

And open your eyes with Gratitude!

Sigh..

The sun has vanished and the light is soft. A gentle breeze has picked up bringing the scent of wet earth with it. 

It isn’t raining yet but the promise of it fills the atmosphere. 

It makes me pause what I’m doing to look out of the window and take it all in, to experience it with all my senses! 

And just like that a sigh escapes my throat.. 

What Next!

Today someone spoke to me about achievement. Having reached a personal milestone in his life, the ‘what next’ is playing on his mind. I know exactly what he is talking about because years ago, I was in the same place he is today. This got me thinking about how I did it and how today I apply the same principles to my walking / health journey. 

Like all addictions, the push to give up something that is bad for you, comes from within. It is a belief that by making this change, life will be better - that’s what makes you want to do it and that’s what keeps you going. 

Don’t let what you did in the past or any stereotypes define you. Look at yourself in the mirror and be honest - no one knows what you need better than you. You are your best coach! Listen to yourself, trust yourself and be true to yourself. 

And as importantly, don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Each morning just try and do a little better than you did yesterday. Achievements and milestones are yours alone. So name them and crush them. For yourself. Be proud of yourself.

Celebrating 15 Years

Today is Day 1

We watched from afar as the world changed, we heard stories and read statistics, yet could not fathom the impact. Then it came closer! 

The last few weeks have seen the cautions become real, the concern and confusion too. One by one things were shut down, people started to stay home, stay away from crowded places. I myself stocked up on some staples thinking it will make things a little easier. A hand sanitiser has taken permanent residence at the entrance of my house. 

The past weekend saw an experiment like no other. Our nation was asked to voluntarily stay at home and it did! People were told to go out only to get essentials and most of them listened. But it wasn’t enough and it isn’t enough. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Starting today our entire country barring basic essentials and medical services goes on a complete lockdown. When this was announced I had a moment (okay a little more than a moment) of panic and disbelief. 

How? How are we going to do this, how will we manage? What will happen over the next three weeks? What will happen after? When will life come back to normal? Will it ever actually be normal again? The questions in my head just don’t seem to end. 

Today is Day 1!

A thought occurred to me - could today be the first day of the rest of our lives? A chance to start things anew, to create the lifestyle and habits we have wanted to for the longest time. An actual opportunity to get out of the vicious cycle most of us have found our selves in. 

If we consider this a mental and physical reboot, we could use these three weeks to contemplate, strategise, research, and learn. To make an action plan that will allow us to enrich our lives. 

Things are bad right now, but we as human beings are resilient and we will find a way out of it eventually. Our actions and attitudes today will go a long way to improving ourselves as people and as citizens. This experience is going to change us all, let’s make sure the changes are good ones. 

I remind myself today to send up a prayer of gratitude for the comforts I am fortunate to have and more importantly to the thousands of people behind the scenes who will be working through this crisis to keep us comfortable and safe. 

6 Years

30 years since I started smoking, 6 years since today since I quit! 

Most people think I quit because of a health issue, but it wasn’t the tuberculosis diagnosis that did it, nor did I need anyone to tell me I needed to. 

For months before I told myself everyday that I wanted to quit because I was fed up of the way smoking made me feel and I was even more fed up of being an addict! 

I simply used my illness as an opportunity to quit. As I got better and the years have moved on, there have been many moments of weakness; but I haven’t given in once. Why - because the good of being smoke free exponentially outweighs the bad of being a smoker! 

Proud Ex Smoker. Smoke Free For SIX.

One Step At a Time

Every now and then there comes a moment in your life when something that seems ordinary at first, eventually becomes ‘the thing’ that changed you from the inside. It may not be a specific moment, but in the future, you will define periods in your life as before or after this change. It’s happened to me a few times; the latest being August 2018.

Those who know me personally, know that I have been struggling with being over weight for the last 20 years or so. Various attempts at gyms, trainers, diets, etc worked for a short time and then the weight was back. Here’s an unhappy statistic: about 90% of people who lose weight are going to put it all back on. I wasn’t any different.

There were times I didn’t even bother and one day, in June 2018, the weighing scale gave me such a shock, I didn’t know what to do. I was at that stage where I was ready to give up completely because I know that the task ahead was so huge, there was no way I was going to accomplish it.

I had hit rock bottom! But that meant the only direction I could go was up! I had to give it one more shot. 

I chose the easiest form of exercise there is - walking. I told myself I would walk a certain number of steps a day and that’s all I needed to track. I managed to achieve my own goals over 75% of the time and that was fantastic.

Then in August, my sister invited to join a ‘walking challenge’ for 5 days, where the competition was to see who walked the most and at the end of the 5 days, I came in 3rd place.

I found I had walked more than I thought I could and it was really fun, so the next week, I decided to try and do a little more. I managed to touch 15,000 steps rather easily and just seeing those numbers felt so good, that I wanted to do it again and again.

When I started this journey, I didn’t look at the end goal. Honestly it was so far away, the very thought was overwhelming and daunting. Instead I concentrated on the process, in the hopes that I would change bit by bit and become a better version of myself. I refused to think about weight loss and only focused on a life style change.

I started seeing results and getting compliments on what was visible weight loss in just 2 weeks of this mental shift.

At this time, I had one focus - to beat my previous week’s achievements this week. I didn’t need to look at or compare myself with anyone else. Each morning I would remind myself to work a little harder than I did the day before and that’s what I did.

I used the statistics to keep me moving. I concentrated on the numbers and used that to push myself when I was tired. It was literally ‘one step at a time’. Changing your life style and moving out of your comfort zone is hard, but not giving up and sticking to it is even harder.

Then a few months later, a friend said to me - Walking has made you lose weight, but it has done so much more. You seem happier with life itself and you seem to be at peace.

I am really glad someone noticed this and mentioned it. Yes, I started walking to lose weight and bring myself to a better level of fitness, but that’s just part of the story.

The rest of it is about being stronger from within, being honest and kind with myself, respecting myself and very importantly being happy. The fact that it is visible on my face, tells me that the changes I have made in my life have worked very well.

It may sound like a lot, but it really isn’t. All it took was small changes, small choices and a belief that I can do it and will! Yes, the occasional big step is needed, but everything else you are doing, is giving you the strength for that big step!

I am now a happier & stronger person than I have been in years, you can be too..