As a health coach, bringing up nutrition in conversation can be a tricky thing. People don’t want to admit to a lack of knowledge and a poor diet. But eventually, we can ease into the conversation because we all know that nutrition is an integral part of our physical health and well being. But nutrition is just scratching the surface. Before I get to the topic at hand, and a whole lot of science, here is a story.
If you don’t know the story of Sisyphus, here’s the short version. Sisyphus concocted and carried out a successful plan to imprison Death, liberating humanity from the fear of dying. But when he was caught, and Death released, Sisyphus was sentenced to pushing a rock up a large hill for all eternity. The gods believed this endless task to be the worst punishment imaginable on a mortal, but Sisyphus scorned the gods and his task, and in doing so, he was stronger than the rock. “In the universe suddenly restored to silence, the myriad wondering little voices of the earth rise up. Unconscious, secret calls, invitations from all the faces, they are the necessary reverse and price of victory. there is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night.”
I truly believe there is a part of us that needs to be grounded in the moment. This year alone, I’ve read 100+ books ranging from finance, to relationships, to psychology, to religion, and even some on health and exercise. Every one of them speaks of awareness/consciousness/engagement/the power of now/attendance, and the list goes on and on. All of these speak to what Sisyphus found; a restorative and grounding power in contentment.
Why do I bring all this up? Because for most of us, we are easily sucked into the monotony of our lives. And for good reason. We have important things to do that require our full attention. Work, picking up the kids, dinner, pay bills, walk the dog.
But what do we do with the rest of our time? If you’re anything like my average client, most of your other time is on your smart phone, playing games, watching TV, sending snapchats, and spending way too much time on Reddit (that last one is me at the moment). The problem is, none of these are restorative, nor grounding. And without that restoration, we wake up the next day a little more tired, and have difficulty pushing that rock…going to work than the day before.