As a Catholic, this Sunday is a big day. Easter has become associated with oversized bunnies, candy, chocolate, you name it, but for a believer, someone who subscribes to the idea that this Resurrection could truly have taken place, it is important to explore what that really means for us, today, in 2013. The pastor at my parish today decided that it related to the tying up of all loose ends in life. As humans we struggle with the idea that we lose loved ones to death. One day we too will be those people for whom others grieve. However, this idea of resurrection, of new life, gives us a hope and a purpose that indeed our lives do mean more than a random collection of events and relationships that one day will return to the Earth and forgotten forever as the universe turns over and over again into a new generation, era, millenium. This idea of resurrection gives us meaning. Tells us we matter. Our lives are a piece in the fabric that makes up history. We impact and influence lives through our own living every day. Its an amazing concept to pick apart and examine, but it is also very difficult. I want to just bring out what it inspires in me, as a 23 year old who has been overwhelmed of late by life in general. This Easter season is an opportunity for rebirth, for new life, whatever form that may take for each individual. It is a chance to improve, change, evolve to become a better version of ourselves. Its a refocusing effort that I am taking in three parts. The first part is spiritual. As my daily wanderings to and fro have become more hectic and time consuming, the important things have a tendency to fall back into the background. Spirituality and faith is important to regain. With that I can re-focus on other things that I also need work with.
The second part is intellectual. I need to have time to continue to read and write more, listen to music more, and overall just take time to think more often. My brain misses my deep thoughts that challenge it to be stretched to fit new knowledge.
The final part is physical. After a burnout from 20 years of playing soccer, my passion is back. However, I have not had the motivation or energy to get back to the active routine that kept me in shape in the first place. I would like to surpass the physical peak of my past, and it is important for me to get that back after missing so much time and losing so much ground. The competitor in me needs to be awakened once more. I’ve signed up for a marathon I am not ready for.
For every goal there needs to be a plan. I have some keys to live by in these coming months as I embark on this journey of rebirth. They are as follows:
List of healthy habits that will help me regain my health in the three facets:
1) Drink water, milk, and juice exclusively
2) Do not eat after 7pm
3) Balance out my diet, moderation, 8 hr window, etc.
4) Be in bed by 9:30, asleep by 10:00, up at 5:00 every day
5) Improve organization skills and time management. Plan ahead
-Create weekly/daily Practice plans for spring
6) Read for 15 minutes a day
7) Write every night before bed
8)Monitor progress in writing.
9)Skip no workouts,
10)Do 50 push ups when you wake up, 50 before bed,