Joy Of Motion

Blogging plus my full-time job equals too much time in front of the computer.

When I am involved in a deadline project and super concentrated on what I am doing, it is very easy for me to lose track of time and forget to move from my chair.  Sitting at my desk for hours on end may help me get my work done, but researchers also say it increases my chances of getting diabetes, heart disease and shortening my life.  So as comfy as it feels to sit or hang out on the couch, I've got to get moving.

 

Because when I don't move, I feel as if my body is literally turning to Jello. 

And that's when I make myself get up and stretch and walk and move around to get everything going again because our bodies are designed to move, groove and if we take care of them, they will work like efficient, healthy machines.

Desk Exercising

The father of one of the guys I work with in my office is a doctor and he told his son that every day you should do some kind of activity that makes your heart beat faster.  The activity has to be aerobic enough so you feel your heart accelerate in its beating but not to the point of being out of breath. 

This guy definitely follows his father's advice because sometimes he takes the stairs from the lobby all the way up to our office on the 10th floor.  I know this because I have seen him come through the door from the stairwell and he is usually holding his fingers to his neck taking his pulse.

Now I don't feel the need to go running 10 flights up the stairwell but I do make sure to leave my desk every day and go for a 10 to 15 minute walk around the block or to the park to get my heart and circulation going.  I also have been known to do jumping jacks in front of the copying machine when I don't think anyone is around.  There is joy in motion for it's great for your body and mind.  It cleans out the brain of those swirling thoughts that are stuck and gets you to free thinking.

 

Motion can also promote healing for those navigating the loss of a loved one or dealing with lots of stresses. 

 

This is a time of patience with yourself and others.  That may be difficult when you have little energy or patience to spare but think of exercise as a way to transition.  Being around a lot of people  and exercising are probably at the bottom of your list of things you want to do right now but start slowly.  Take baby steps, breath deeply and walk around your neighborhood.  If you continue this for at least a week or two, you will have strengthened your mind/body connection and will see a change in your mood.

 

We can do it together.  There's no better time to start than today!

 

For more ideas about fitting exercise into our busy schedules, here's the link to a great WebMD story that reinforces the philosophy that standing is always better than sitting and walking is better than standing:

 

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercise-at-your-desk

Socially Yours

Stories are constantly written about why we should strive to unplug from our computers, ipads, Smartphones and other electronic devices but I read a work colleague's Facebook post yesterday and was reminded of how amazing social media truly is.

 

I work with a young guy named Aaron Knights and he was at the incredibly tender age of seven when his beloved father died from cancer at the age of 38.  Think about that for a minute.  Think about what you were like when you were seven.  The idea of losing a parent at that stage of your life is profound and pretty scary, right?

 

They say that when you have a child you sometimes end up reliving moments of your own childhood in the process of raising your own child.  Now, Aaron's daughter is seven years old and Aaron said she is asking Aaron a lot of questions about his Dad and she wants to know things like: What was he like? Was he funny? What would you two do together?

 

Aaron added that recently he was putting his daughter to bed and they were talking about what happened at school when spontaneously, in only the way a seven-year-old could, his daughter directly said to him, "I wish your Daddy didn't get sick and die.  I wish there was no sickness in the world. . .ever!"

Aaron said he tries to be as honest with his daughter as he can (I would be crying) but he only has so many stories that he remembers of his wonderful Dad because he was so young when his Dad died.  He wanted more stories for himself and for his daughter and he posted on Facebook a simple query about how he misses his Dad every day and asked people who might have known his Dad to share their memories with him and his daughter.

 

Social media does offer vast human connections which can be impersonal but are also immediate.  At last count, Aaron received more than 75 responses to his question about his Dad which to me is amazing!

 

Without Facebook, Aaron would have had to sit down and write emails or letters or made telephone calls and then waited for something to arrive in the mail or someone to call back.

Talking about a loved one who has died is good for everyone who knew the person because the conversations and the sharing of memories continues to connect you to that person you lost.  You are also passing along or even trying to recreate that person so that others who never had a chance to get to know the person feel in some way that they too do know this loved one who meant so much.

My son and I always talk about his Dad, some of the weird things he would do or say and also some of the wonderful and treasured things he achieved as a writer and a reporter.  I talk to my friends about him too and they sahre their stories with me.  It just makes us feel better and we never tire of it.  He may not be with us physically but he will never leave our hearts.

Aaron did an extraordinary thing by posting his request for stories about his Dad on Facebook.  He was opening himself up to stories he might never have heard before and even though he wanted those stories, he knew it would be painful to hear them because it would make him miss his Dad even more.  But he chose to get a dialogue going and help his daughter understand what her grandfather was like.

Sometimes you should plug in!
 

Weekends Go Too Fast

I hope your weekend was a good one and that you had a chance to relax and renew yourself.

 

My weekends always seem to fly by and just when I'm feeling as though I have totally brought myself down from the workweek, it's time to begin a new one.

 

It's okay though; I selfishly wring every minute of down time out of the weekend that I can.  Even if I am grocery shopping or running other errands, I try to enjoy the outdoors and reduce the pressure to get everything done in record time!

  

 

I try to unplug myself, even briefly from my electronic gadgets because I think they make me less patient.  More and more is supposed to happen in an instant today and life doesn't always follow our wants.  We become frustrated when phones are busy, computers freeze up, ATM machines run slowly or the checkout lines are long.

 

Waiting for something to work is an opportunity.  It is.  Come on, you know it is.  This is what I tell myself because no matter how much I want something to work faster, it never does.

It's an opportunity to pump the brakes and slow myself down.  I may feel like I am trying to beat the clock when I set out to do my errands but I really don't need to accomplish all my wants in one day. 

 

So when I miss a green light or have to reboot my computer and open all my programs up again, I try really hard to use that time to take a couple of deep breaths and remind myself that whatever I am trying to do will get done. . .eventually.
 

Your Digital Legacy

Every day, several times a day, you electronically email or text someone, update your Facebook status, Tweet, take a picture on your phone or record a moment from your life which you want to save and remember.

 

Just as the internet opened up a whole new world of information sharing in a way no one could have ever foreseen, these electronic tools such as iPhones, computers and other gadgets strive to further break down the walls of communication and help us share everything in a way that wasn't possible even five years ago.

 

But with these communication opportunities comes a responsibility to filter what you put out there and take care that this information doesn't land in the wrong hands and used improperly.  In other words, whatever it is that you said and did, are you sure that it will only be received by the person you sent it to?  And no one else?  What happens to all this electronic stuff after we are gone?

I was thinking about these questions because the husband of a friend of mine died suddenly just about a year ago and his widow is still processing on many levels what happened.  She recently was going through his home office and found his laptop.  Her husband was a writer and she was curious to read what was stored in the his computer.

Did she know the passwords to his computer?  No, she didn't.  Could she take it to a computer store and get them to unlock it?  Yes, she could.  But did she really want to go through his computer files and emails now that he died?  She knew that whatever it is that she would find on his computer, he wasn't here to explain it's meaning or intent to her.

To me, this is the proverbial Pandora's box.

The whole idea of a digital legacy is becoming a very common issue and it's something people need to figure out.

Companies have been started to help people open and transfer a loved one's data.  A number of books have been published addressing these personal and legal issues.  What will happen to all of your computer transactions should something happen to you?  Does anyone know your computer passwords?  Do you even want anyone to know your computer passwords?  How do you feel about all this?

In the case of my friend, she did decide to take her husband's Mac to an Apple store and there is a process that you go through in terms of showing proof about the situation.  Eventually, Apple did unlock her husband's computer.

So far, she hasn't opened anything up and looked or read anything.  She says that she keeps the laptop opened up on the table next to her home computer so that when she is working on her computer she feels he is right there with her.

If you want to read more about the various issues surrounding a digital legacy, this link will take you to an excellent USA Today story:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/story/2012-05-07/digital-mourning/55268806/1

 

Daddy's Office Time

From a child's point of view, the place where their parents work can be a place they dislike because it pulls the parent away from them.  Parents spend a lot of time at work and children may feel that they are competing with what goes on in the office.  "If you didn't have to work, you could be with me," is sometimes what a child thinks.

But what if your memories of your parent and their relationship with their work and their office is positive and you can't imagine your parent doing anything else but being in their office?  Your parent may love their job and their passion for their work may inspire you to try to find something that you can be equally passionate about.

Work world is where your parent and other adults are busy working on computers, talking on phones, doing things you don't quite understand but you want to be part of it because your parent loves being in this world.

In honor of Father's Day, this New York Times story captures a little girl's precious memories of her father and playing office so she could become just like him:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/for-one-more-day-at-the-office/