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Friday, March 27, 2015

TGIF

This morning I woke up and opened my eyes. I had no idea what time it was but all my signs were telling me it was time to get up. I just followed my internal clock. My clock was off, way off, it was 03:30!

I was up, no one to play with, so I just laid down on the couch to catch a few more hours of sleep.

Let me just show you a picture of me sleeping. At this time, I’d like to give a warning as I sleep au-natural…




I showed you mine are you going to show me yours?

I love my Vivofit; it registers my sleep pattern for the entire night and I can check it out on my computer screen. What you are looking for in this graph and ONLY in this case, is a flat line at the bottom of the graph. It also tells me for how long I slept; in my case it’s usually between 5.5 to 6 hours. Not last night, I got up at 05:16 and slept for 6 hours and 49 minutes. You see the spike where I drew a yellow not-so-regular-circle; that’s when I got up thinking the day was waiting for my entrance. 

I selected the red not so smiley tired looking face, to represent my night. It’s how I felt. I’m usually all happy and excited to start a bright new day, not this morning.

I was not in a good mood. I knew today being Friday I had to walk 15 K steps.

Also around 08:30 we were to leave to go to the rec center to play pickelball. Since I slept longer than usual, I was running late but I had already poured my coffee.

I looked at the Weather Network, they forecasted rain starting in the next few minutes. That was not improving my mood. I don’t mind walking in the rain but I had not time to walk in the rain, come back home, have a shower and go to the rec center. I bet you folks thought retirement was easy without any stress road; ah it’s not the case every time.

I had a dilemma, should I walk after we returned from playing pickelball which is a whole workout in itself and after 2 hours my energy might just not be there for a walk.

I didn’t have time to write my post, which I always do in the morning. It was not improving my mood!

So at 06:00 AM, I decided to go for a walk around our block. I thought when the rain would start I would just come back to the house. My coffee was still full, so I decided to bring it with me… now you’re talking multi-tasking 
extraordinaire! If I could just walk 2 to 3,000 steps, I would declare this successful.

I got outside, looked up to see if the clouds looked as bad as what was on the Weather Network. What I saw were stars… What the heck, if I can see stars, there are no clouds, if there are no clouds, there is NO rain, right? Or is this just my Canadian wishful thinking brain?

So off I go with my coffee in one hand, and a little smile growing on my face. I walked 2 streets and came back home to drop off my coffee mug, I didn’t need the extra weight.

It ended up being one of my nicest walk so far, I felt happy and content, I looked at the sun rising, I even came back home once again and got my camera. See below for pictures of this glorious day.

There are two lessons I learned today, one is that if you decide you are in a bad mood you can just keep the blinds closed and you will be right, but you can change your mood by just going where you are happy.

Speaking of happiness, this morning I was walking, the sun was rising, I was wearing shorts and I was completely happy! Back home, this winter, I walked in the snow in very cold temperature and I was completely happy… so lesson number two, happiness is NOT related to the environment you are in, it’s that warm feeling inside all of us.

Since Feb 23th, I haven’t had any alcohol, but this morning I was drunk by this new day. 

By noon, we had played 3 hours of pickelball and I had recorded over 15 K steps. I could just sit down on the couch and give myself a high five for one exceptional day when accountability was my main source of inspiration.

I hope every one has time to enjoy what is important to them, and that you keep happiness in your soul. Have a great weekend, thanks for reading and for all your comments.


That palm tree, we own it... never thought we would own one of those!

Our pool, we share it with the rest of the community! 
Strange at 07:15 AM no one was there!

I got hit by those glorious rays!

 I didn't know my wife was shooting me, the smile is real from having fun

Mrs Richard serving!

7 comments:

  1. What a great post, Richard. Each day is what we make of it. As best as we can. Why not wake up with the purpose of being happy? Isn't it so much better that way? Wonderful photos. What a gorgeous sky. I'm sure it made your walk so much nicer. And you and your wife look great.

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    1. Thank you Martha,

      “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness”
      - Charles Spurgeon

      Yes the purpose of a new day should be happiness! The only tool require is to enjoy what we have!

      I love walking in the morning before the sun rise, it's the best!

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  2. Replies
    1. And don't forget... no headache the next morning :)

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  3. Richard your blog is inspiring!

    I'm on my second weekend with no alcohol and I am beginning to get over that "drink to let go" feeling that you have clearly already got past.

    I agree, happiness is a state of mind. It comes with no requirements.

    I do have to say I was a bit creeped out about the start of your blog because I, too, got up this morning at 3:30AM. I actually couldn't fall back asleep so I went in to work at 4AM and got a bunch of stuff done with no one there to bother me. We must be on the same wavelength or something.

    Take Care!

    Keep going my friend, you give me

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    Replies
    1. Thanks FD

      We must be twin from a different mother and father :) When I was working, I would also go to work very early, it was the most productive time. No phone call, no email, just my keyboard and myself...

      Stay sober my friend, so many benefits are just getting so close to you right now!

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  4. Omg, it's so beautiful, we really do have to visit!

    -WWE

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