"AIl good work is done the way ants do things, little by little." -Lafcadio Hearn
"I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind." -Leo Buscaglia I recently read an article summarizing a new study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen about overweight sedentary men who exercised 30 minutes per day, compared to men exercising 60 minutes and to men with no intentional exercise. The surprising result was that after 13 weeks, the 30-minute group lost the most weight: pounds lost = 0 for control group of no exercise, 5 pounds for the 60-minutes-per-day group, 7 pounds for 30-minutes-per-day group …“a total that, given the smaller number of calories that they were burning during exercise, represents a hefty 83 percent “bonus” beyond what would have been expected, says Mads Rosenkilde, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Copenhagen who led the study.”
The article goes on to comment, about the men who exercised 30 minutes per day: “The men exercising half as much, however, seemed to grow energized and inspired. Their motion sensors show that, compared with the men in the other two groups, they were active in the time apart from exercise. “It looks like they were taking the stairs now, not the elevators, and just moving around more,” Mr. Rosenkilde says. “It was little things, but they add up.”
The idea that especially captures me is expressed in that last sentence. This month, in a desire to choose wellness, let's remind ourselves that little things add up.
For our physical self, we can do a little thing or two to move more or consume less: how about picking one thing to consistently do for all of October, such as maybe -- park farther away or go for a quick walk outside during your breaks, or possibly choose to eat just one rather than a few chocolate treats or to eat from a smaller plate at dinner (can you tell I'm aiming to personalize? hopefully you'll come up with better ideas for yourself! '-)
For our mental/emotional self, we can notice the beauty of the world around us - quite evident to us northerners as we take in fall colors - and we can choose to focus on what is positive, on any little thing that might be positive. Researcher and author Barbara Frederickson, in "Positivity" offers: "think about each of the ten different positive emotions... joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and last but not least, love... Think about the times when you felt each of these emotions clearly or deeply. What were the triggers of these nourishing states for you? When was the last time you felt each of these mind-opening states? Where were you? What were you doing? What was happening?"
And then she suggests that we get concrete. "Pull together objects and mementos that create for you a heartfelt connection with each of the ten forms of positivity. Assemble these into a portfolio, a physical collection that you build...Make each emotion into a project...Invest your time and savor the task for a full week. A week on joy, a week on gratitude, and so on, until you reach a week on love..." Since negativity can pull us down so quickly, when needing or wanting to make a course correction toward positivity, consider "...physically getting your hands on one of your own unique positivity portfolios can make the difference. Reexamine its contents. Remind yourself of the good in your life."
[For the portfolios you can gather things such as photos, letters, quotes, or objects; a song or video clip; reminder of scent, taste or tactile sensation. For example, for my "inspiration" file, I might include - just to name a few things - a picture of an orange purple sunset, a pressed flower, and a few lines from Mary Oliver's 'New and Selected Poems, vol 1' --': "When it's over, I want to say all my life / I was a bride married to amazement. / I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms." (Thanks, Rebekah, for the reminder of the line: "a bride married to amazement" wow.)For our spiritual self, we can remind ourselves of meaning in this day with little things like brief daily practices or readings. I'm presently doing a Yah-weh breath prayer upon waking each morning (hate to admit it, but I definitely sometimes need to remind myself that it is good to have breath of life; if interested, see the *Breath prayer below). Or other little things can help us remember the important: maybe try reading an email, some poetry, a quote or inspirational text; visiting a website or listening to a podcast that brings you back to deeper purpose (love, God, goodness, or however you name it).
Little things add up - and tending to the little things is what so much of life is made of. May you find goodness and wellness in the little things of each day this month! Always wishing for the best for you, Dee
"Never neglect the little things. Never skimp on that extra effort, that additional few minutes, that soft word of praise or thanks, that delivery of the very best that you can do.It does not matter what others think, it is of prime importance, however, what you think about you...You are special. Act it. Never neglect the little things." - Og Mandino
“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities." - Luke 16:10 (New Living Translation)
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