Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Feel Better Soon

Just five minutes a day keeps the doctor at bay.

Two months ago Dr. Jo Barton and Professor Jules Pretty, University of Essex, published their results of a study about exercising in nature (green exercise). What they found backs up what I've been saying: Just five minutes can make a difference.

The results of the study show that just five minutes of exercising in nature has a measurable effect on your mental health—especially mood and self-esteem.

According to Professor Pretty, "You get a very substantial benefit from the first five minutes. We should be encouraging people in busy and stressed environments to get outside regularly, even for short bits of time."

It doesn't seem to matter what type of exercise you do, as long as you do it in nature. So if you want to garden, take a walk in a park, ride a horse, go sailing... do it. But make sure you do it for at least five minutes.

Read about the green exercise study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

How will you spend just five minutes today improving your mental health?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Alternate Reality

Just five minutes can make a difference in the way you see things.

You know that feeling of suddenly being someone else for just a moment (or maybe several moments)? The one that comes when you make a certain expression with your face, or you phrase something just so, or something. It's not always clear what causes it, but you're going along, minding your own business, and BAM, you're experiencing an alternate reality.

It happened to me earlier today. I was walking down the freshly painted halls of my apartment building, just going to move my laundry from the washers to the dryer, when I suddenly had the sense I was experiencing the world the way J- does.

Part of me was aware enough to pull back and try to figure out why. It certainly wasn't the setting. Although the walls are freshly painted, the carpet is old, stained, ugly. Not J-'s thing at all. And she wouldn't be doing her own laundry, so that wasn't it. I rethought my expressions, my thoughts, my movements… and there it was. It was my stride, the way I was carrying myself. It felt like hers. Strong, confident, sexy.

I tried to hold onto that feeling of living, however momentarily, someone else's life. That feeling of having someone else's world view. I always try to hold onto that when it happens.

Yes, I know although I feel I've stepped into someone's reality, what I'm experiencing isn't likely to be what they experience. Still, it is different from the way I experience things. It opens me to a different way of viewing the world, of experiencing the moments around me. It shifts my perspective, my paradigm. Sometimes uncomfortably so--like when I see how alone and adrift someone feels. Sometimes in a way that I want to embrace and make mine--like the confidence I felt as I channeled J- this afternoon. But whether uncomfortable or empowering, it always gives me something.

What difference could you make in your life if you spend just five minutes looking at things from someone else's point of view?

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

I did what?

Sometimes you don't even know you make a difference.

Not long ago a co-worker and I were sent to pick up a sheet of foam core mounting board for a presentation. I had purchasing authority, he had car keys and knowledge of exactly what he needed. It took just a few minutes to get to the frame shop. My co-worker told the proprietor what he needed and she went to the back to find it for him. I paid for the foam core when she brought it out. While I signed the credit card slip, my co-worker picked up the 3'x4' piece. We thanked the lady who had helped us, then headed to the vehicle.

He opened the hatch of the SUV and finessed the foam core into it. I opened the back passenger door and pulled it over the seat back so he could close the hatch. We got into the vehicle and headed back to work.

He stopped in front of the side door and we both got out. I waited for him to unlock the hatch, then pulled out the foam core and headed toward the building.

"You're gonna' carry it in?" Surprise colored the question.

"Yeah." I could feel the well, duh look on my face. He had to park the SUV; while he did that, I'd carry the mounting board. Made sense.

"Wow! You're great."

And he meant it. He was that surprised. I don't know if his wife and kids don't do small things like that, or if the folks he works closely with at work leave everything to him. I do know he was genuinely surprised and appreciative that I didn't leave the board for him to carry.

Like I said, sometimes you don't know when you're going to make a difference. Live a good life, help people--even with seemingly tiny things--and I guarantee that you'll have plenty of moments that make differences you never expect and may never see.

What small thing might you have done today that made a difference for someone else?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

I'll write this post tomorrow

Just five minutes can make a difference in reaching your goals.

Procrastination.  I don't know about you, but I am a master.  In fact, I was supposed to start this post an hour ago, but sat at the coffee shop talking with a friend (who was also supposed to be writing a blog post).  Fortunately, with just five minutes, procrastination can be overcome.

When I find myself putting something off, whether it's something I want to do or something I'd rather not, I tell myself that I'll work on it for just five minutes. And then I do.

Most of the time--almost always--I end up spending more than five minutes at it. I finish or make good headway.  Even those rare times when I do spend just five minutes, I'm five minutes further than I was before.  I've made progress.

If I do that regularly, I'll continue to make progress.  And then, during one of those five minute sprints, I'll finish.  I'll reach my goal.  And that feels fantastic.

How will you spend five minutes working toward your goals today?