Apprentice Achievements
Exercising both Mind & Body

Exercising both Mind & Body

I’m so excited to be back in the pool & to emphasise this here’s a WHOOP!

My swimming restarted last week having stopped in March 2020 & although my achiness knows no bounds, & the pool needs to introduce an extra slow lane, it really is great to be swimming again.

I haven’t been idle during the past 15 months, but I haven’t pushed myself either.

I’m aware of the benefits exercise has on mental clarity, as well as the heart stuff but I was surprised at the speed in which my mental fog cleared during my first swim, & this got me thinking - as it would!

Throughout my varied life & career to date I have had, & fulfilled a wide range of ambitions, but rather than me fulfilling a prescriptive list of things my ambition continues to increase, diversify & meander along a range of untrodden paths which has led me to the conclusion that I need to live until I’m at least 285 years old to get through the stuff on my ever-increasing list!

Heart & mind health go hand in glove when creating a balanced meaningful life & although I realise that I may fall a couple of years short of 285 years, if I don’t lead a relatively healthy & balanced life, I reduce my chance of ticking everything off my to do list.

Much is espoused of the benefits of a healthy body & mind, along with varied & often contradictory advice & guidance that an ever-increasing array of experts want us to buy, in order to help us live longer & better.

But, in my simplistic view of stuff shouldn’t we just do something we feel comfortable with until we feel confident enough to do a little more?

Exercising our body has clear health benefits & going for a walk, run, swim or cycle ride does improve our fitness & mental acuity, if it feels right & we want to do it.

At best we’ll have limited improvement if we don’t enjoy it.

I really enjoy the exercise I like, funnily enough, & vehemently avoid the stuff I don’t like but as I’ve previously mentioned, I am fat & I definitely need to do more.

This could be either to cut back on my food intake or run 1500 miles each day. I’m still thinking about this.

One thing is clear though I am really enjoying being back in the pool & both my body & mind are benefiting from this.

As my fitness improves, I’ll continue to pursue new ambitions & enjoy new challenges making the best of my remaining 235 years or so.

I hope you have a great week.

Cheers

Noel