How Does Attitude Impact Your Health?

(Flowers make eveyone happy don't they?)

Today when I was running around I thought of a person I used to know who was one of the most unhappy people I have encountered. It won’t be a surprise that this person and I have drifted apart. I imagine it is tough to be around someone who can find the bright side to cancer when you can’t find anything good about your own life. However I think there are lessons we can all learn from this person so I wanted to share some of my observations.

This particular person ruminated about how much they disliked their job. They didn’t like the company they worked for. Their boss was useless. The job itself wasn’t fulfilling. Combine this with a bad job market and a husband who was underemployed and this person felt like they had no choice but stay in the job because they needed the money and health insurance.

(This is a picture I took of the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore)

Of course I asked many questions about the situation to try to help. However the answers didn’t really sound all that bad to me. The commute was easy, the pay was good, she had autonomy, and there was a lot of free time during the day when she could do things she was interested it. Yet this person was miserable and would talk about how unhappy she was every day or two.

After a while I felt my own happiness being pulled down by these stories of doom and gloom. However as much as this depressed me imagine what this did for the other person. I am sure it was much harder for her having these feelings than it was for me to hear about them. I think she was so stuck in this story in her head that she couldn’t step out of the situation and to see what it was doing to her health.

It is probably no surprise that this lady also wasn’t happy with how she looked and felt like she needed to lose weight. However she was so busy complaining about work, and medicating herself with food and alcohol at night that she didn’t do anything to resolve her excess pounds. I haven’t talked to her in a while but I imagine her life hasn’t changed.

You might be wondering why I am telling you this story and yes there is a point. I believe that unless we are happy with life it is very difficult to make the right food and lifestyle choices. Have you ever been under stress at work or at home and made bad food choices like eating ice cream for dinner because of a bad day? Emotional eating (or drinking) is something that has happened with most women that I know. If you someone who eats emotional how do you stop? Think about the story I just told you, is the food the problem or is it the underlying emotions? In my opinion you have to deal with emotions first and then the other things can be dealt with.

What would I do in her situation? I would focus on what is good in my life. Instead of complaining about what I didn’t like I would find things to like. In her case it would be the pay, the health insurance and the time during the day to look for another job. Of course I would also focus on the non-work things in my life that were also good.

(This is a crazy picture I know but doesn't it just make you smile?  That is what it does for me.)

I believe that attitude has more to do with health than most people realize. If you wake up in the morning with a love of life and being excited about your day than you are more likely to have a great day. However if you get up in the morning dreading your commute, dreading your day at the office or coming home to a spouse you don’t like you probably aren’t going to have a good day. Does any of this make sense to you? If any of this resonates with you or have a story similar to this please share. I would love to hear what you think about this and how you resolved a similar situation.

Nautical News:

The sea trial went well today. *woo hoo* All is well in our world today. There are a few minor items to deal with but nothing too time consuming. That means the delivery crew will be leaving this weekend at the latest. Both Dan and I are looking forward to the arrival or our new floating child. I am sure the cats will not be as happy as we are about this .... but they will adjust. Now I need to remember to talk to the vet tomorrow about how to deal with feline motion sickness which I have read recently can be a problem.  :-/

Today I have been busy working on boat things. However I have made a lot of progress so that is a very good thing. Since the boat will be here very soon I wanted to get as organized as possible before she arrives. Those of you who know me know that my organized former accountant self comes out when things need to get done. I immediately shift into to-do list mode and scheduling tasks to be done. Last night and today I have working on what we need to accomplish and when it needs to happen. I have scheduled tasks by day and who is responsible for those coordinating or accomplishing those tasks either myself or Dan. Now that we have a well thought out to-do list that I can work from I feel much better. Are you a list maker too is is it just me?

Feline News:

Luca Belle goes to the vet tomorrow to have her dental procedure. Please keep her in your thoughts. She is a little round butter ball so I am a little concerned about how she will handle anesthesia. However we need to get her teeth taken care of meaning surgery is required it is only a matter when. I am comforted by the knowledge that she will be in good hands tomorrow.

Happy Thoughts:

• We heard from Island Dreams and the sea trial went extremely well. There are some minor items to deal with but nothing that will take much time. That means the baby will be leaving Grenada very, very soon. *woo hoo* I am not happy about his in the slightest, can you tell? LOL

• Today I was very productive and that makes me happy. I didn’t get as much accomplished as I had on my list for today, but my list was aggressive. I find that it is better for me to have an aggressive list and that pushes me to get more accomplished.

• We had a nice cold front run through this afternoon. After our over 100+ days last week it was nice to be back in the low 80’s even if it is only for this afternoon. Every little bit helps right?  ;-)

• Massimo has been doing much better the last few days. He is no longer vomiting and has starting eat out of his food bowl (rather than my hand) again….thankfully. Additionally he is behaving more like his old self. He and his little brother (Nicco) have been running around the house playing today, which I love to see.

• Spending time today getting uber organized has been very good for me. I am one of those people who are comforted by organization. Not that I know why, but I love to cross items off my to-do as I complete them. I guess my inner nerd is coming out since I love my to-do lists and binders so much, LOL. ;-)

• It was nice today to spend a few hours studying nutrition. Since I enjoy learning and growing any time that I spend studying makes me very happy. Sorry I didn’t have much time on Facebook today. Tomorrow I have time set aside for Facebook while Luca is at the vet. As much as I like to study I also love connecting with those of you on Facebook and missed ou today.

Signing Out:

Now I need to spend some time with my hubby and fur children. I hope Monday was good for you too. Talk with you again soon, hopefully tomorrow with good news about how Luca Belle did at the vet. Have a great evening!