A Smile

Ever wake up and wonder what kind of day is before you? Or is it most likely after the day is over when you do your critique? You know, when you use some adjective to describe what kind of day it actually was: Great, terrific, nice, special, memorable, lousy, crappy or shitty. What preludes these descriptive choices? The situation is different for everyone. Sometimes you do not realize your mood until somebody points it out. If you are having a not so great day someone may joke around and say, "You got up on the wrong side of the bed." Or "Somebody's having a bad case of the Mondays."

Does the attitude you project, not so much how you actually feel, play an intricate part or have an influence rather, in the course of your day? In other words, can a simple smile change everything? I believe it may. There are health benefits to smiling. Something bothering you - smile. For me, it's not clear what psychological effect this has, but it helps me generate a different way to address my primary aggravation. Sure, sometimes I forget but will surely regret not using this simple technique later in my day. Not only will smiling adjust your attitude, it also makes you look more attractive. If you want a person or people to notice you, just smile.

Anything can trigger the beginning of a shitty day. In my case, sometimes the simple fact we are out of creamer for my coffee will have this trigger a sour beginning. If this happen it means I need to get out of my pajamas, get completely dressed in order to run to store and buy more. A big wrench is thrown into my day if I'm unable to drink my coffee the way I like it. This jot to the store first thing in the morning sucks. This is the precise time I need to smile. At the store I smile at the person stocking the shelves or the person ringing me up. This easy facial gesture really helps with how I process the fact I am doing something which is not in my original plan.

Beware of the ones who are miserable, or more so the ones determined to stay that way. They can't stand to see someone appear happy let alone actually be happy. Recently I was in a great mood and it was all influenced from having a receptive smile. Someone asked me why I was smiling so much. This hurt my feelings a little, but I drove on and felt the better person for continuing to be happy. For a person to ask this kind of question is a pretty good indication they are miserable or generally displeased with their current situation. Do not let people like this discourage you from using a smile as a tool to make your day brighter.

Who are you more apt to approach, the person with the scowl on their face or the one smiling? The smile works the same way as body language. Are you going to approach the person with their arms naturally at their sides or the one with their arms crossed? The person with their arms crossed has the body language of someone who wants to be left alone. So keep smiling.

Moderation

A few topics back, specifically, "The Workout," I made multiple uses of the word "adequate." My emphasis on the meaning of this word is key. In terms of exercise, we never want to overdo anything or else suffer the consequences of possible pain or injury. As children, we were sort of taught this with the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Never too much of anything, but just right. Though the author most likely was emphasizing the negatives of either greed or trespassing - my take was "just right" or in other words, "adequate." Yet there's another very important word to think about in all aspects of our lives and that being "moderation." Moderation puts too much of a good thing into perspective.

About 4 years ago I suffered a heart attack. When released from the hospital, the medical staff handed me a leaflet of things to avoid or else increase my risk to experience another cardiac episode. Stop smoking, reduce intake of fried food, red meat, foods high in sodium, foods high in fat, foods with trans fats and the list continued. Since I was guilty of all these pleasures as well as a few other pleasures not listed, it meant reinventing my entire way I live my life. In my situation, drastic changes were necessary. For the proceeding two years I was adamant about consuming a strict heart healthy diet.

Within the last couple of years this emphasis to maintain a specific rule of what foods to eat began to wear me thin. Almost to the point of stressing me out, and its no rumor stress is just as detrimental to the heart. Using moderation has allowed me to enjoy some of those pleasures again, but with caution. Thinking moderation allowed me to realize it's not necessary to eat the entire container of Hagen Daas or eat red meat as my primary source of protein. If I use moderation I can enjoy these wonderful treats and not be such a stick in the mud when it comes to sharing meals with friends since I do try to blend with society. Keep in mind there's a few things moderation will not work and one being smoking - quit now!

Home Improvements

To me, there's no better feeling than having an idea and then, voila, it's a reality. Or perhaps there is, and that's if "voila" really worked to make it happen. No, in most cases, when it comes to home improvements, its a back breaker. Unless of course, you have gazillions of dollars to pay someone to do it for you. In that case, you may likely only be satisfied with your idea and not so much the feeling you get from the "hands on" experience. The ability to look at what you yourself accomplished is such a reward. As the saying goes, "There's no better satisfaction than a job well done'"

We bought our house almost 10 years ago. We were in our mid 30s and were very ambitious as well as had the energy to update every aspect of our home to conform to one in the 21st century rather than a home you would see in a 1960s sitcom. Only one problem, our bank account was not as ambitious as we were. Little by little we did one project after another. It's taken 10 years, and we've come full circle from where we started, but we are finally about to complete the transformation and we've basically did it on our own - blood, sweat and tears.

Our final project has always been the back yard. We may have never completed it had it not been for our new family member, our dog Lucy. We have two other dogs, Bugsy and Roscoe, and they've never been a nuisance in any way. Lucy on the other hand has all the problematic characteristics of a dog. One of her favorite things to do is to find dirt or mud and dig, then track it everywhere. Me being a clean freak am at my wits end.

Solution: Have approximately 15 cubic yards, or roughly 40,000 pounds of river cobble to cover up all the dirt, at the same time giving the lawn a more manicured appearance, since it will be the only thing we will need to maintain once the project is done. Physically we knew we could do this since we did the front yard 9 years earlier. Since our home was built on a ridge, the end result is the look of a mountain high meadow complete with pine trees and a tranquil atmosphere. May I also point out that your body does a lot of changes in 9 years and despite all the sore muscles, the reward of doing it yourself is like nothing else. As of right now, the project is only two thirds done. Sore as I am from moving rock, I'm energized to complete the job. that will be done with my next paycheck where I seriously consider hiring a couple of migrant workers to assist. Final thought: Poor Lucy, there's no place for you to dig.

Positive Influences

There comes a time when we realize our days, months, years or even the lifespan we have to accomplish short and long term goals is limited. Negative influences have the potential to slow or stop our efforts. Unfortunately, this is a time when we may need to "clean house," so to speak, and begin to eliminate all negative influences which may slow the progression of our self growth or our ability to achieve goals. This quite possibly might involve disassociating ourselves, or participating less frequently in family events. Not in terms of divorce, though some cases may warrant a divorce as part of our agenda in eliminating the negative. More so in terms of the ones we love who've reluctantly encouraged us to excel, and if we did, they begrudgingly congratulated us. The kind of congratulations which seems to reward them for their false sense they were personally responsible for our achievement. I speak passionately about this because this is an snapshot of my epic experience.

In order to flush these negative influences aside, courage and strength are vital. The epitome of this situation is it's taken years, even decades for some to realize they can rise above by accepting and congratulating themselves for believing in their capacity to do great things in life. It is not easy to turn away from ones we love, but if they are not our main source of encouragement, move on.

During my childhood my vision of what my future may hold, like many children do, was my desire to sing, dance and perform or even be a movie star like my favorite actor, Superman's Christopher Reeve. In my household, had I displayed any hint of interest for the performing arts, it was considered gay or odd. This was not a good career choice because of the lifestyle it may eventually lead. There were hints of my affection for the same sex even back then and efforts were enacted to sway me to the opposite by handing me a football or baseball mitt. Basically ignoring my destiny was the result of those who tried to sway me. In turn the beginning of my dissatisfaction with my own self image was replaced.

Today I am happy, healthy, wise - and gay. I surround myself with many things which are characterized as gay. I'm married to a man, I work as a flight attendant, I take care of my health by eating right and abiding to a fitness regimen. Performing arts are still very interesting to me and I'm able to identify true works of art. Nobody is going to convince me the way I live my life is wrong or the wrong direction - I know better. I'm now taking applications for more positive influences.

Complex Being

As young men we tend to seek the secrets of the universe, our sanity and compassion, a potential soul mate and possibly our state of nirvana. As we approach our midlife years we shift our search for spiritual growth, sometimes through the destruction of our previous beliefs, and anything that could lead to interesting dialogue. Sound deep? This is my perspective as a man. The female verbiage should be the same when describing what men seek rather than her primitive thought of our search for only food, sex and sleep. I point this out because we are taught to believe, even in this day of political correctness, women are more complex human beings than men. This is partly because women are known to have many states of consciousness at any given moment, overshadowing the complexity of men. From my perspective men are just as, if not more, complex than women. Women wear their thoughts and feelings as if it were high fashion, while men in the same respect show more self-restraint. for men this by far shows more power, stability, as well as complexity. - just a thought.

Fitness On the Go

Since my job is being a crew member for a commercial airline, people often wonder where I find time or resources to maintain my exercise regimen during my travels. What they do not know, most hotels today have conformed to the needs of the fitness enthusiast. These hotels actually contain, if not a full service athletic club, at the least, a dedicated exercise room with new, state of the art, equipment. Growing ever popular are the cardiovascular machines, complete with it's own fan and HDTV built into it's console. Quite frequently there are also popular gyms near the hotel. The hotel's front desk staff may furnish you with a day pass to these facilities. In many cases, your hotel may be situated near running trails or parks. Recently while in Minneapolis I took advantage of a natural reserve near my hotel and went for a peaceful wilderness run. My point being, there's no excuse for me to skip a workout unless to just relax and take a break - and that's OK once in a while. On the occasion I'm able to find a popular gym like Golds, 24 hour, Balley's or YMCA near my hotel, I put more effort into a full workout so when back home I have plenty of time for more important things in life - like laundry, dust or vacuum. :-)

Hydration

Recently I read the human body contains every element in our galaxy. In other words, we are living, moving, and breathing fingerprints of where we come from in terms of in our galactic neighborhood. Water is the one element throughout space exploration found only here, on planet Earth, and our body's are comprised of approximately 60 percent of the H2O. The amazing thing about this, aside from other living organisms, we are physically responsible to maintain this level throughout our lives or else die from dehydration. Another amazing thing, through technology, we are able to adapt to different climates because we know how to move and or bring water where it normally does not belong.

When working out or working in the yard, it seems like I cannot hold on to water. This is a process of exertion, and the body will sweat in order to cool itself down. A power walk will expel approximately a pound of water. Dehydration can occur rapidly with people who have been burned, experience frequent urination, fever, and diarrhea. Some of the initial signs of dehydration are thirst, and lack of urination, or your urine is very yellow. A more advanced level of dehydration would show signs of dry mouth, lack of sweat, muscle cramps and nauseousness.

This will lead to the question of how much water do I need? This all depends on your health, energy level, and your climate. Our medical community suggests we use the 8 by 8 rule. This is eight, eight ounce glasses of water a d day. Some of us require more, but rarely less, in order for our metabolism to work properly. As a flight attendant working in a very arid atmosphere I must constantly remind myself to drink water.