Demons

Yes, I have demons, and, yes, I carry baggage... emotional and physical. Who doesn't?

My shoulder has been getting bad for decades. My fear of intimacy the same. I need my shoulder, and I need friends. The question is what kind of need and what kind of friend. People are a lot more complex than just anatomy.

Need that devil?

Life is shades of grey (nothing to do with the movie), not black or white. It's not good or bad, but good and bad... together.

This lone wolf sometimes likes to run with the pack... which is very inconsistent of me.


-copyright 2014 by Willy.

Winter Training

Outside in the winter can be beautiful, but the cold temps with snow and ice can also demotivate a hiker. We can think of so many alternatives! And the truth is that we can do indoor cardio on the elliptic, treadmill, exercise bike, aerobics classes and even walking the mall... or so the little red devil tells me.

That's when the other little voice calls me a wimp.

"If your goal is to be a tough old man," the little white angel goes, "then you should enjoy a couple of hours of winter wonderland."

"Besides, you've been slowly getting conditioned to the winter by uninterrupted hiking."

Yes, due to my obsessive compulsive disorder, I have been hiking two to four times a week consistently for a dozen years.

"And you will see Mother Nature at her best."

That did it. Off I went hiking in single-digit temperatures.


-copyright 2014 by Willy.

Prayer

Prayer is not just the rosary... with the litany of Our Fathers and Hail Mary's. And it's not just because the church tells us to.

Relaxation, meditation and prayer are as important to mental health as weights and cardio are to physical health. Not only that, but every physical feat starts in the mind. Given this lead-in, and the fact that I'm hyperactive and terribly anxious by nature, my absolutely favorite prayer is the Serenity prayer at the left margin of this blog:

Lord, give me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

My second favorite is the Saint Teresa of Avila's prayer, here in its original Spanish and in its translation:

Nada te turbe.
Nada te espanta.
Todo se pasa.
La oracion todo lo alcanza.
Quien a Dios tiene
nada le falta.
Solo Dios basta.

Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing affright you.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
He who has God
wants nothing.
God alone suffices.

Find one you like or need... and keep it handy.


-copyright 2014 by Willy.