My New Year’s Resolution
December 30, 2007
People often feel determined to make a commitment to do something new and different and decide a resolution for the new year. My new year’s resolution is that I go either jogging or walking, depending on my physical condition and the weather, for 30 minutes in the early morning every day for at least 5 years. I have decided this because I signed an important business contract recently. No failure is allowed in this business contract. So I must sustain myself for 5 years and maintain good physical and mental health conditions. I think that regular jogging or walking is ideal for this purpose. Let’s take a look at some literature regarding this.
The benefits of regular physical activity as described by Mayo Clinic article (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2007) are that it improves mood, combats chronic diseases, helps one manage one’s weight, strengthens one’s heart and lungs, promotes better sleep, can put the spark back into one’s sex life, and can be - gasp - fun.
Japanese physicians (Arita, H., 2003; Hara, K., Sato-Suzuki, I., and Arita, H., 2006) describe the serotonergic system in the brainstem as being activated by various regular rhythmic physical activities, including jogging, walking, Hula, Zen, etc., and thus observed remarkable improvements in psychophysiological measurements after long continuation of these activities, especially after 100 days.
A current well established public health recommendation of 30 munites’ light to moderate activity on most days of the week (U.S. Surgeon General, 1996; Japanese Ministry of Labour and Welfare, 2006) is considered effective for achieving these benefits.
I myself value jogging and walking because they provide me with a sense of control and management in my work and life. They thus blow depressive feelings away and let me feel strong confidence in my future success.
Wouldn’t you like to join me in jogging or walking to help your physical and emotional health?
Hisao Kano
The Secret of Saying Thanks By Douglas Wood and Greg Shed
December 18, 2007
“Perhaps you’d like to know a secret, one of the happiest ones of all… The Secret.. presents the essence of being gratefully present in life as Greg Woods explores and traces contact with the world of nature and family. My favorite lines are:
“The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we can not feel thankful and be unhappy at the same time.” and the secret: “We don’t give thanks because we’re happy. We are happy because we give thanks.”
These conclusions provide both adults and children with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of gratitude. It takes us all beyond superficial Thank yous into an exploration of our negative emotions, wants and cravings. It challenges us to confront and let go of our demands and disatisfactions. Can we find the resources to be appreciative and grateful when things do not go our way and our wishes are denied?
When I read this to kids I like to contrast being thankful with a picture of a child begging her Mom to buy her candy in a store. Then we work on what she could feel thankful for and we talk about feeling the opposite of thankful or unthankful. It seems to help children connect with how to put their minor wants into perspective and to identify and feel grateful for the more important things in their lives. This process takes them deeper into understanding what it means to be thankful twelve months of the year and teaches them how to accept the “no”s gracefully.
Elayne Hunter