Be. Do. Go…
There’s a portion of the Declaration of Independence that I’ve always found particularly insightful. It identifies how we humans often tolerate and refuse to change difficult situations or suffering — as the document calls it — because we get comfortable with our suffering.
…all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
We humans have a tendency to forego or delay actions that could change our current sufferings, because it’s easier to get comfortable with our sufferings. It doesn’t seem to matter what it is — in our careers, our personal improvement, or other areas of life — the fear of making a difficult decision convinces us to endure the suffering. It’s safer than taking the risk of doing something to fix a terrible job, a bad marriage, or even our poor health.
I know a little about suffering while my evils are sufferable. I suspect we all do.
That’s where I was one year ago — as I explained in great detail here. When it came to improving my health, which I knew was becoming an issue, I was delaying improvement and was comfortable with my suffering. Those delays put me in the hospital. If you’ve read this post, you will recall that experience changed my entire attitude about my health and it caused me to look at other areas of my life I wanted to improve as well. I even gave this transition in my life a name — Project: Be Better.
Here’s an update, with grades included, on Project: Be Better. I could be more detailed with the successes and failures, but I’ll keep it brief since an update isn’t the entire point of this post.
- Become more organized — B
- Create routine — B
- Read and study more — B
- Write more — B
- Exercise regularly — A-
- Eat healthier — A- (C when I was in Europe, but I was in Europe)
- Lose weight — B
You may recall that the primary reason I focused on some of these things was to keep my then recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes under control. It’s not been without its ups and downs, but overall I have been diligent and focused on the process of taking control of my health. When your doctor tells you on your visits “I wish all of my patients would take care of themselves like you do,” you must be doing something right. And recent lab results confirmed that he isn’t just being nice — which is encouraging.
In case you are wondering and know a little about these things, my A1C test number was sitting at 5.6 — which is considered the high end of normal, or in other words not diabetic.
This doesn’t mean I can stop everything and celebrate. I will continue this for the rest of my life. It’s a lifestyle change. I have a goal of one day reversing my diabetes, as some claim is possible, but even if I never achieve that goal — I want to get as close as I possibly can to achieving it. If that’s going to happen, I have to keep working and making adjustments for the rest of my life.
And here’s the deal. After nearly a year of a complete lifestyle change, there’s still room for improvement. A lot of room.
That’s what this post is ultimately about.
Introducing — Project: Be. Do. Go…
It’s November, but I’ve got my eyes set on 2017. There are a few more evils I’ve been suffering through that I need to right. That’s where my new project for 2017 comes in — a project I’ve already started the process of implementing. I wanted to come up with something simple and easy for myself to remember on a daily basis — so I kept it simple (stupid) with Be, Do, and Go. I should be clear however, it’s not meant to replace Project: Be Better. Instead, Project: Be. Do. Go… is meant to add to the successes of 2016.
Be.
- Be present. — Less phone time when with others. Less distractions when deep work is necessary.
- Be curious. — Ask more questions, explore more, and learn more.
- Be focused. — Focus on the process. Focus on what I can control and less on what I can’t.
Do.
- Do more, dream less. — I think we all have a tendency to dream, but never actually act on dreams — at least I do. That’s been changing in the past year. It’s going to change more in 2017.
- Do more with photography. — I’m only teasing this for now. I’m in the midst of preparing some exciting work for the coming year, and it involves finally doing something more in the photography world.
- Do more creating. — Write more. Photo more. Create, create, create.
Go.
- Go beyond my comfort zone. — I already practice this to a degree, but I am going to push myself more in everything I do.
- Go more. — One of the primary goals for Project: Get Better, was to keep myself moving — for health reasons obviously, but also for exploration reasons with our traveling, and otherwise. There’s no good reason to be sedentary. There’s lots of good reasons to be active. Just keep moving. Just go. It worked. I will be going even more in 2017.
“Talking isn’t doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well; and yet words are not deeds.” — William Shakespeare
Yes, currently these are just words. But, it is my goal to be able to report one year from now that I was indeed present, that I did, and that I went.
I’ve got to get to work…
Finally (I know, right), please don’t get me wrong. I’m not writing this to brag or show off. Those of you who know me, know that’s not my style. I’m writing this in the hopes that maybe you will be encouraged by my little story and perhaps it will cause you to review some of your own sufferings that you’ve just resigned as sufferable. And perhaps through your review process you’ll right yourself by abolishing the things to which you’ve grown so accustomed to.
