Free will can be a lot like work. It's harder than going with the flow because it requires thinking. Thinking is in short supply during these halcyon days of hurry, hurry - just DO IT. Who's got time to think anymore? How are you supposed to think when you're juggling five tasks and doing none well?
Where's the time to think wonderful thoughts? To luxuriate in your own positive mindset? It doesn't just happen. It takes hard work and planning to have the time to ponder anything deeper than tonight's supper menu.
Medical experts advise us to nourish our bodies - to watch what, how much and when we eat. They warn us to exercise and to move more often so that we will continue to feel healthy and engaged in life, well into our seniour years. Time stretches out for us in a way our great, great-grandparents would never have dreamed.
According to "BBC Health", average life expectancy has doubled in the past 200 years. The average human lifespan today is 70, but 1000 years ago it was a paltry 24 years! And we're complaining about not having enough time?!
Mental health experts tell us we should laugh, have fun and find the joy in our lives and for the same reasons that we eat well and exercise - so we can capture lightning in a bottle - and nail down that elusive quality of life thing. Like nailing Jello to the wall, a pessimist would have you believe, but he'd be wrong.
It's about a little thing called "cause and effect". When we eat well we feel better. We have more energy, stamina, and resistance to infections. Proper exercise contributes to our general feelings of well being. These principles are well entrenched in our minds. We know what we should be doing...
When we laugh we experience similar benefits. A bale of belly laughs raises your respiration - your heart rate and your metabolism - much like any aerobic activity such as jogging, biking, hiking or skiing. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins - the body's natural pain killers - and helps get more oxygen to the brain. Who can't use more oxygen to the brain?
When we laugh we stop time - just for a moment - but long enough to give us the tinest glimpse of that rarest of jewels - pure joy. Giving oneself over to uninhibited mirth is a witless leap of faith. You can feel your brain slipping out of gear and it feels good.
That sounds an awful lot like quality of life, to me.
Once you're in that blissful state of mind, do yourself a favour and stay on board. Ride out the wave and see where it takes you. Look for the good, the kind, the decent in your life. Humans are hard-wired to try to be happy. Be your own best friend and let those potent little endorphins work their magic.
Informed, educated optimism vanquishes dark of night, ill informed pessimism every time, and free will takes work. Are you up for the challenge?
Sunday, March 8, 2009
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