Physical Exercise

  One of the things that I have been trying to focus on more is being more active. While I used to be very active when I was younger I have become less so as I have gotten older. I began with something small. A few weeks ago I would try to get to my classes a few minutes early and walk around the area where I needed to be. This led to on average another 20 to 30 minutes of walking a day. I was surprised how much better it made me feel after 2 weeks. I felt that I didn't catch myself catching my breath so much. One of the things that actually surprised me was my mood increase. I had always heard that working out and being more active would make me feel better, but I never quite believed it. Now I have started going to the gym at least 3 times a week and have felt a lot better. There is something very nice about putting on a podcast and just focusing on the workout for 30 minutes to an hour. I have enjoyed the feeling of quiet. There is also a sense of accomplishment early in the morning. I feel that I have started doing one thing right in the morning. That makes me feel better than I did before. I have found that I am able to build on this throughout the day. Each challenge that I am faced with I feel more equipped to handle. I find that I am more confident and ready to tackle each problem. I have also found that I have been sleeping better as a result. I often worry about things that I cannot control. I worry about the future or mistakes that I have made in the past. I have noticed that by working out more I feel that I do not think about those things as often. I believe that I am much more capable of solving the problems in front of me so I deal with those more often than not. This has created a much better sleep consistency for me. I am no longer waking up in the middle of the night. I am no longer feeling tired when I wake up. I feel much more relaxed. The final aspect is one of routine. I have a much more regimented day. I no longer feel as helpless. I feel that each morning I have a plan to succeed. This level of comfort and stability has led to more happiness in my day to day life than I ever thought was possible.

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