I've heard it said that fear is a good motivator, and to a certain extent, I agree. It's not that I'm trying to be all Machiavellian about how I deal with people, but I think that there are certain things you should be scared about. For example, if you have a kid, you should be a little worried about screwing up how you raise him. It's that little bit of fear that drives people to be good parents, I think. You want a good way to constantly keep the kid's best interest at heart? Be scared of screwing up.
Anyhow, I've found that this mentality is applicable to other aspects of life (I don't have any kids floating around anywhere). In particular, it reminds me to be good about having my morning snack. See, I usually try to have a fruit around 8AM, because it keeps me going until lunch time. It's also a good way for me to maintain some balance in my diet, as it's a built-in time to have some fruit every day. However, that's also right as my work day is starting to gear up, so I have occasionally forgotten to eat my snack.
The fear part of this comes in because I usually go to the gym around 10:30AM. On those days, if I have forgotten to eat my morning snack, class becomes much more painful. It's the sort of class that ends up making me sore even when I'm at full strength, and running on fumes as I'm trying to exercise just makes things bad. There is a very tangible toll to pay for a lapse in my routine. And that's precisely why I will be darn sure to eat my morning snack on the days when I go to the gym. I'm not trying to make life harder on myself.
In fact, I've actually had moments where I was sitting at my desk, working away, and I suddenly remembered that I was going to the gym in a couple of hours. You know that moment where someone has an epiphany and he has a very physical reaction to it (e.g., some dude will jerk his head up)? It was just like that. I realized I hadn't eaten my snack, I had a physical reaction to this realization, and then I rushed to eat my snack before it was too late. As an amusing side, I've actually heard someone else who goes to this class say they had a very similar reaction on occasion (though his version involved a little more swearing).
The best part about all of this is that there is a little residual fear that bleeds over into the days when I don't go to the gym. The end result is that I try to be good about eating my snack on non-gym days, too. I have a feeling 60 year old me is going to be very happy about this turn of events, and the positive result it is bound to be having on my overall well-being.
So, in conclusion, eating fruit is good for you, but being scared of not eating your fruit is better.
Anyhow, I've found that this mentality is applicable to other aspects of life (I don't have any kids floating around anywhere). In particular, it reminds me to be good about having my morning snack. See, I usually try to have a fruit around 8AM, because it keeps me going until lunch time. It's also a good way for me to maintain some balance in my diet, as it's a built-in time to have some fruit every day. However, that's also right as my work day is starting to gear up, so I have occasionally forgotten to eat my snack.
The fear part of this comes in because I usually go to the gym around 10:30AM. On those days, if I have forgotten to eat my morning snack, class becomes much more painful. It's the sort of class that ends up making me sore even when I'm at full strength, and running on fumes as I'm trying to exercise just makes things bad. There is a very tangible toll to pay for a lapse in my routine. And that's precisely why I will be darn sure to eat my morning snack on the days when I go to the gym. I'm not trying to make life harder on myself.
In fact, I've actually had moments where I was sitting at my desk, working away, and I suddenly remembered that I was going to the gym in a couple of hours. You know that moment where someone has an epiphany and he has a very physical reaction to it (e.g., some dude will jerk his head up)? It was just like that. I realized I hadn't eaten my snack, I had a physical reaction to this realization, and then I rushed to eat my snack before it was too late. As an amusing side, I've actually heard someone else who goes to this class say they had a very similar reaction on occasion (though his version involved a little more swearing).
The best part about all of this is that there is a little residual fear that bleeds over into the days when I don't go to the gym. The end result is that I try to be good about eating my snack on non-gym days, too. I have a feeling 60 year old me is going to be very happy about this turn of events, and the positive result it is bound to be having on my overall well-being.
So, in conclusion, eating fruit is good for you, but being scared of not eating your fruit is better.
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