NEWSLETTERS

30-Day Balance Experiment 2010 Day 9

The Wall Street Journal today ran a story titled "The Power of a Gentle Nudge" about the benefit of friend encouragement and frequency of exercise. "The study, conducted by Stanford University, belongs to a growing body of research, showing that small amounts of social support, ranging from friends who encourage each other by email to occasional meetings with a fitness counselor, can produce large and lasting results." So what kind of exercise are you going to do today, dear friend?

SPIRITUAL thought/action: In Chapter 3 of Women Food and God, "Never Underestimate the Inclination to Bolt," Geneen Roth talks about how obsession "gives you something to do besides having our heart shattered by heart-shattering events...It gives you the illusion of feeling everything without having to be vulnerable to anything...Not bolting-being awake without being drugged by food, alcohol, work, sex, money, drugs, fame, or in denial (about the crisis we are actually in)-is asking a lot." Today I let go of illusions and face the truth. Today I accept people and situations exactly as they are.

PHYSICAL thought/action: Today I will exercise 30 minutes, an hour, or more: taking a walk around the neighborhood, going to the gym, etc.

MENTAL thought/action: "The foolish reject what they see, not what they think; the wise reject what they think, not what they see." Huang-Po Today my actions reflect my new thinking.

EMOTIONAL thought/action: "Can you walk on water? You have done no better than a straw. Can you fly in the air? You have done no better than a bluebottle. Conquer your heart; then you may become somebody." Ansari of Herat, 11th century poet and philosopher.

The Spiritual Times