Yesterday at M and T's I browsed through one of Martin Seligman's books (he's the learned helplessness guy). According to Seligman happy people live longer. Yikes. My rhetoric, unfortunately, is generally negative or analytical. One longintudinal study of nuns (!) (they're a great subject pool because they share attributes of a healthy lifestyle) found that initiates who described their upcoming move to the convent in "happy" words lived longer than those who intellectualized their feelings. I am planning on changing my attitude. Is it possible for a pessimistic person to become a happy one? Or would my efforts be like a fake smile?
I am not succeeding at consistently making the right dietary and lifestyle choices. I don't know why I find it so hard to take good care of myself. I've got a lot of knowledge about healthy diet, but am still challenging myself by eating conventional crap: sausage and beer at N and S's party when there were fantastic salads on the table, a whole burrito last night when half would do. No exercise to speak of. I want good self-care to be as natural as breathing. What can I do to live "right" without becoming obsessed with it?
Practice practice practice.
Keep good foods in the house.
Make good food ahead of time.
Don't be hard on myself.
Get joy from doing what's best.
Happy Mother's Day.
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