As I repeated the Loving Kindness exercise, I thought of two things.  First, I kept thinking of my wife's suffering.  She is almost 33 weeks pregnant with our second daughter and she is miserable.  As I write this, she is lying beside me with a heating pad to her jaw.  On top of all the pregnancy stuff, we found out today that she may need a root canal.  I feel completely helpless in relieving her suffering.  I try massaging her feet and back, but that only temporarily makes her feel better.  Every day I want to help make her feel better, but it is hopeless.  At least she only has a few more weeks before Malin arrives.  Hopefully, then she will have some relief.

Then, I began to think about all of my patients in the operating room.  Some of them are really suffering.  I began to think of how honored I am to play a part in relieving their suffering.  Many of the surgeries we perform make the patient's lives better.  I find comfort in knowing that. 

With the Integral Assessment exercise, the area that I found to be the greatest area in need of growth is the biological.  I really need to get back into shape.  I am satisfied with every other aspect of my life expept my physical fitness.  My overall general health is pretty good, but need to lose some weight.  The problem is that I find it hard to find time to exercise.  The only exercise I get right now is playing and dancing with my 21 month old daughter, Maddison.  My life is so hectic now with work, school, and church.  This is my last class of the Bachelors program, and I don't start my Master's until next fall.  So, I can hopefully find the time to work out soon.  I am going to try to start walking at least 30 minutes a day.  After a few weeks of that I may try to step it up a notch.  I used to do P90X, but I am not sure that I am ready for that again.  But, I can find a workout that will suit my lifestyle.  Wish me luck!!!

John

Well, I have a feeling that this week's blog is going to sound redundant.  I was not very thrilled with the exercise this week.  I didn't care for last weeks exercise, and this week it was more of the same.  The woman's voice was a little annoying to me.  The funny thing is that about the time I got really focused she would say something, and it would startle me.  Then I just got to thinking about how I wished she would just stay quiet.  I have to admit that I feel like maybe I don't have an open mind to all of this because I don't like the exercises.  Actually, I really agree with most of the concepts surrounding human flourishing.  I am a fairly emotional guy, but this all seems a little too "touchy/feely" for me.  I know that makes me sound redneck or uneducated even.  But I gotta call 'em like I see 'em. 

I do think that spiritual wellness directly affects mental and physical wellness.  Actually, I feel that spiritual wellness has a greater influence than the other two.  For example, I am a pretty spiritual person.  However, there are times when I am not where I should be spiritually.  I don't read the Bible like I should.  I don't pray like I should.  During these times, I find my physical wellness, especially, faltering.  I quit eating right, I quit exercising, and I gain weight.  I think I do these things because if I am not spiritually healthy then I am not happy.  It also affects me mentally.  For me, my spiritual life is the foundation for all of my health and happiness. 

Hello everyone,
This weeks blog is about working out the mind.  I did the loving kindness practice, but I have to admit that it really didn't do much for me.  I actually enjoyed listening to the waves crash on the beach.  That was relaxing.  The problem was that the lady had to keep interrupting.  The computer generated voice was somewhat irritating.  I feel that I would have benefited more from just the silence and the ocean sounds.  Some of the imagery of loved ones suffering was a little weird as well.  This may be for some people, but I probably would not recommend this to someone.  If I did not find it beneficial, then I would not recommend it to someone else.

A mental workout is much like a physical workout.  The difference being that the body has its limits, but the mind is limitless.  One can never push the mind too far.  Research indicates that working out the mind can lead to a greater inner life.  I could probably benefit from taking time each day to workout my mind.  I could take 20 to 30 minutes to meditate and pray.  The problem is that there is not enough time in the day.  I usually have to find smaller increments of time throughout the day.  That is all I have time for right now.

John

After personal reflection, I would say that physically I am about a 7.  I am overweight, but overall I am in pretty good health.  I recently had some bloodwork done and everything came back normal.  I am also pretty active.  Spiritually, I would say that I am an 8.  I have very strong beliefs, and I am active in my church.  However, there is always room to grow.  I have moments where I am at a 10 level, but those moments seem to intermittent due to me being a human.  Psychologically, I probably am a 9.  I probably am the least stressed person I know.  There are definitely stressors in my life, but I have a gift to be able to let things roll off of my back. 

A realistic goal for me physically is to lose 20 pounds.  I could do this by adding a 30 minute workout to my daily routine.  I say realistically, but I am not sure if I have an extra half an hour in my day.  My goal spritually is similar.  I could add a 30 minute time of devotion, prayer and Bible study to my day.  This could easily be accomplished of a morning before work.  Psychologically, my goal would be to simply maintain my non-stress attitude.  Reaching my goals both physically and spiritually could help me reach my psychological goal.

The relaxation exercise was somewhat difficult for me.  I think it was the technique that was used.  For me, another method would probably work better.  Like I said, I am pretty much stress free.  This exercise had more of an adverse effect on me.  Music is a better outlet for me to relax.  There are several different genres of music that helps me reach relaxation.  I think that would work better.

First Blog Ever

Hello everyone,
I would just like to say that I have never blogged before in my life and it kind of scares me to death.  I have never even read someone elses blog.  I really do not know what to do.  This sort of thing is usually not my kind of thing.  But, hey, who knows?  It could be just what I need.  Good luck to everyone. 
John