Happiness With Health and Fitness

As personal trainers we help people who are wanting to improve something about themselves – their lifestyle, energy, body and function. Why people need our help varies – some want to optimise their time and results – others really need emotional and social support, some want to be kept accountable whilst others need to be re-educated about many aspects of their lifestyle. What is common in all of us is that we want to move away from what makes us unhappy and towards what makes us happy. Better health and fitness is a great place to start but let’s go deeper.Let’s face it – if you don’t value your own health and fitness – you don’t value your own life. It is only through great health and fitness that one can really make the most of their time, body, mind, energy and life. So it makes sense that people who have moved away from valuing their health and fitness (or any other value) develop an unhappiness around this issue. Unhappiness springs from misguided living or not living in alignment with what one truly values. So if you say you value your health but you are 20 kilograms overweight – you probably aren’t completely happy. The very sad thing is many people NEVER do anything to change their unhappy state. Sex, drugs and sausage rolls (including chocolate, alcohol and many forms of “entertainment”) are just momentary pleasures/distractions and once gone leave people with the same feelings they had before or worse. Allot of people will go around being unhappy and will go on forever being unhappy – living life as it is handed to them – accepting the things they aren’t happy with – and perhaps most importantly of all not deciding what it is that makes them happy!And here is the turning point! You cannot be happy – until you grab hold of some values that make you happy (like better health and fitness) and start acting in a manner that draws those values into your life! Decide what makes you happy! Find it! Then start living by what it is that you’ve decided is an important value in your life.Before you can be happy in your community, job and public life (work, friends etc), you need to develop happiness within your private life (family, partner etc) and before you can be happy in either of these you need to be happy within yourself – this takes knowing who are and what you stand for and living in alignment with those values. Some people find their values from friends, family and religion and as long as the values they have found make them happy that is great – but they still need to live in accordance with these values. However if you have not consciously chosen your values be very very aware that you have probably had some handed to you by friends, family, religion, media etc. and they may not be guiding you towards what YOU want in YOUR life. Before you can be best for others – be best for yourself! Love yourself then others then your community – in that order. Greater health and fitness is a great place to start!Decide on your values – plan your lifestyle around those values – establish rhythms of exercise, eating, thinking and rest that makes you feel happy about who you are and what you give and enjoy the happiness that will be found by living in alignment with your values and greater health and fitness.”An idle mind is the devil’s playground” RF