Let us begin with a story...

Today I finally met the older man who I often see helping his wife out of the car in our apartment complex.  As he began to talk to me and asked me if I could help him turn on the fans in the room I was immediately struck by his strong upbeat voice and attitude.  Sometimes when you first meet someone you can just tell they are a vibrant person.  We chatted a little and of course, because I ran into him in the complex gym, we mentioned fitness.  He told me about how he used to walk 5 miles everyday with his wife but that his "76  year old body just can't do it anymore" and that was why he was using the stationary bike inside.  As soon as I wondered where his wife was he volunteered that she had Parkinson's and wasn't able to do any exercise anymore.  He brushed it off as if it wasn't a big deal and I began my workout (with only one earphone in just in case he wanted to chat some more).  As I ran on the treadmill this exuberant man moved from the bike and began using the weight lifting machines in the gym as well.  He did weights for a full 20 min and then chatted a bit more about life in the country before he came to San Diego then bid me farewell.

It is funny how a simple conversation can make you reflect on what you are grateful for.  The last few days I have been considering how badly I need to change my inconsistent eating and exercise habits because I'm unhappy with how my clothes fit and how tired I feel on a daily basis. This conversation reminded me that even if there are things we should change we can be grateful for what we already have.  I reaffirmed today my need to get on a routine to be better to my mind body with nutrition, exercise, sunscreen and reflection and I'm going to keep working on that through this blog.  I realized that the reason I never make much progress in my goals is because I really like staying in my comfort zone.

Seeing that 76 year old man sweating and pushing himself in the gym made me realize that goals don't get achieved inside your comfort zone.  This revelation helped me push through a workout today on pure motivation.  Every time I felt like cutting my running segments short I pushed myself outside my comfort zone.  I'm sure he didn't learn to take care of a wife with Parkinson's, make time for the gym at 76, or create optimism at the end of a long day by living his life inside his comfort zone and that is something we can all learn from.

Several weeks ago a friend on Facebook posted a link to a TED talks.  In this short 12 min video Shawn Achor talked about The Happiness Advantage.  It changed my outlook on success as much as it did happiness.  I highly recommend it to everyone!  Now I still believe that it is important to have goals for success but I just don't think that reaching them should create happiness. You should have it with you all along.

That said this blog will chronicle some of my current fitness, health and happiness goals.  And I say happiness is a goal though there isn't any measurable way to show success in it.  Perhaps this is the first step to the happiness goal itself.

Check out the TED talks here:  Shawn Achor: The Happiness Advantage

Then stay tuned for the next installment.  How did you move outside your comfort zone today?