"It feels like leaping into heaven."

Fine, before I get started, yes. I am a compulsive person. Only on a few occasions have I ever happened upon a new idea or a new set of information and carried it with me for the rest of my life. I only remember two of them right now, but they are two of the most important precepts I live my life by: 1) Violence is wrong. Killing animals is violent. I do not participate in the killing of animals. 2) I own myself. The products of my labor are an extension of myself. The State is an inherently immoral institution.

These are ideas that have never left me. I have clarified, moderated, and tweaked my positions on these ideas, but my feelings remain fundamentally the same.

I am off work this week, and I have settled on using this time to improve myself and my life situation. Some of my goals for the next few days, at least as I conjured them initially, were to do all my laundry, go to the doctor/dentist, eliminate excess "stuff" from my apartment, organize the things I keep, get a handle on my finances, and perfect my diet and exercise regimen.

Then I watched this TED Talk, and I feel different. Watching it hasn't really changed my plans for the week too much. But it may have changed my plans for the rest of my life. Something I don't acknowledge enough is that I have a profound fear of death that I carry with me every day of my life. I don't know how common this level of fear is, as I don't speak with people about it often, but I get the impression it weighs on me heavier than most.

First, here's the video. It's about 20 minutes long:

 

Dan Buettner labels places with people who live the longest as "Blue Zones." People in these Blue Zones walk more often, eat lots of tofu (in the Asian zone) and mostly plants in every case (especially beans, nuts, and seeds), have more close friends, don't do "intentional" exercise, have gardens, engage in regular prayer/meditation, have a sense of purpose throughout life, drink wine daily, and seem to do everything in moderation.

"They set up their lives so they are constantly engaged in physical activity." They do their own yardwork, cook foods from scratch, sit down and get back up often, and get their exercise in other practical ways.

The focus of my health goals tend to revolve around losing weight, lowering body fat, and having visible abs. That's really my point in this. Any other goals I might claim to have pale in comparison to those three. I want to be more physically attractive. That's it. But seriously... I won't care how I look when I'm dead.

So, here's a thought: 3) I am afraid of dying. There are things I can do to be healthier physically, mentally, and spiritually that will delay that eventuality and improve the quality of my living days. I will do those things.

A very appropriate talk followed that video: 

 

I make no promises as to what will appear next in this blog. I have no definite expectation. I need to chew on this.