Who’s endangered? You are. When I wrote this blog the website www.worldometers.info showed a world population of 8,179,276,180 people. What’s amazing to watch live is the number ticking over every few seconds. In a population of 8.2 billion, the truly significant fact is there no carbon copy of you nor will there be another! You are an endangered species. Make haste. Now is time to protect and nourish your body, mind and spirit. You deserve the attention.
Imagine that you are a contestant on the reality television program Dragons' Den. The product you are pitching is your life. Would the panel of dragons invest in you? Do your waistline and lean muscle mass numbers show promise? Could you sell yourself passionately in terms of your energy levels, mental clarity and grit? Be honest, how much finance do you believe you would secure from the dragons to keep doing what you have been doing? I hope you are not totally demoralised or in tears. There is light at the end of the den.
Your one priceless, irreplaceable commodity is time. Be conscientious in how you invest it. Here are a few guidelines to get you started.
Investment 1 - Physical
Whilst there are many conflicting ideas out there concerning diet, the truths remain unflinching. Eat several servings of fresh vegetables and fruit daily. Drink water throughout the day. Exercise vigorously or at least a brisk walk daily. Keep red meat to a minimum and avoid sugar and flour-based food groups. Longevity studies show that the Mediterranean diet reflects such practices. Whatever you do, list to the counsel of the wise Okinawan centenarians. They reveal the forgotten life-promoting secret of fostering positive relationships.
Investment 2 – Psychological
Use it or lose it. We are learning beings. Our brain loves expansion and challenge. It literally shrinks with sedentary behaviour and lack of stimuli. To keep strong mental wellbeing keep learning. Whether career related or for leisure, find something that engages you mentally and dive in. Your enthusiasm levels will kick-in. Practice stillness or meditation regularly. It’s like sleep for your brain. With all the stresses of daily life, your mind needs to be parked just as does your car in the garage.
Now here’s something crucial to avoid. Destructive criticism. Nothing endangers your esteem more than being too critical of yourself. Remember as stated earlier, keep learning. Setbacks are temporary. This too shall pass. Don’t smash yourself over mistakes, lapses and failures. Is that how you would treat the last of your kind?
Investment 3 – Spiritual
By contemplating your mortality, you are forced to recognise that every time you do something it could be the last time you do it. This encourages you to do the things you do with a significance and intensity that would otherwise be absent. To nurture your spiritual self, consider the purpose for your life. Let all goals sprout from that purpose. Find your Ikigai. What the Okinawans translate as “a reason to get out of bed.” When you undertake the various duties of your life do so with an underlying meaning. Let your perspiration be inspired. Seek something that gives you a sense of fulfilment or search within what you presently do for the value inherent within it. Your spirit soars when attached to a grander ideal.
Face the beautiful truth of who’s endangered. It reveals not sadness rather a realisation that your unique significance should be acknowledged. You owe it to your family, friends, colleagues, community to be your best self. No one else can fulfil what only you can.
“I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” Etienne de Grellet, Quaker Missionary