Lifestyle Goals for Healthy Living - Part 1 || Port Alberni Investment Advisor

As an investment advisor living and working in Port Alberni and the Alberni Valley, I need to ensure that I live a healthy lifestyle so that I have the energy to keep up with a busy home and work life and still find time to enjoy my hobbies and interests.  I would like to share with you in an upcoming series of blogs, my 10 Lifestyle Goals for Healthy Living.  I will talk about each individual step in a separate blog, so for today’s post, the number one goal is – Getting Adequate Rest Every Day.  It is important to our physical, emotional and mental well-being to get enough sleep every night.  For some people, sleep seems like a waste of time because there’s not enough time to do everything that needs to be done in a day.  Research has shown, however, that you are more likely to get more done, successfully, if you are well-rested.  Experts recommend that adults get 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, but everyone is different and some people feel refreshed with less sleep.  You are the best judge of what you need most.  Ask yourself the following questions to determine if you are sleep deprived:

• Are you often tired?
• Do you drink caffeinated drinks to get through your day?
• Do wake up feeling tired?
• Do you get drowsy when you are driving or watching tv?

If you answered yes to the above questions, chances are you are not getting enough sleep at night.  Here are some suggestions for getting a good night’s rest:

• Try to set a regular bedtime.  Our bodies like consistency and we should schedule enough time for rest each day.
• Drink fewer caffeinated drinks, especially at night.
• De-stress yourself before you go to bed – take a relaxing bath, read a good book, meditate, or listen to relaxing music.
• Lock your worries in a mental safe at the end of the day and don’t think about them.  This isn’t always easy, but if you visualize this and practice, it becomes easier with time.
• Exercise, but don’t work out right before bed.  Try some gentle stretches to relieve muscle tension and help relax.
• Make your bed your sleep haven.  Don’t use your bed to do homework or office work, or pay bills or go on a laptop or watch tv. 
• If you can’t fall asleep right away, have a few books on hand to read until you can relax and become drowsy.

Below are some photos.  See if you can determine which photos depict scenes that are not conducive to relaxing and getting ready for sleep, and which photos portray great ways to relax your body, mind and spirit.

Photos by Stirling Images Photography

Back to Basics || Port Alberni Investment Advisor

In my last blog, I wrote about enjoying the simple things in life.  I ran across an article on the internet listing 60 ways to help you get back to basics to make life simple again.  The suggestions are just plain common sense, but we tend to forget many of these as we get caught up in the day-to-day hectic pace we set for ourselves in our daily lives.  Here are my top twenty.

1. Nurture your relationships and say “I love you” to your loved ones as often as possible.
2. Be true to yourself.
3. Clean up after yourself.
4. Be polite, kind and caring to people around you. 
5. Your health is your life.  Keep up with it.
6. Live below your means.  Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.
7. Get enough sleep at night.
8. Don’t try to please everyone.  Just do what you know to be right.
9. Exercise.
10. Be honest with yourself and others.
11. Smile often.
12. Laugh often.
13. If you hate doing it, stop it.
14. Apologize when you should.
15. Be curious.  Explore and learn new things.
16. Drink water when you’re thirsty.
17. Eat when you are hungry – not when you’re bored.
18. Make mistakes and laugh about them, learn from them, and move on to better things.
19. Let go of things you can’t change and focus instead on the things you can change.
20. Follow your heart.

If we can try to remember some of these things as we try to keep up with our busy lives, we will find ourselves more at peace and harmony with ourselves, with the people around us, and with the situations that befall us.  It is when we are in harmony with ourselves, that we can stop to enjoy the beauty of the world and life around us.  Imagine your life as a one way trip, from start to finish.  You'll want to make sure that you aren't so distracted along the way, that you don't have time to stop and marvel at all the wondrous things along the way!  Here are some beautiful scenic shots from around Vancouver Island to remind you to slow down and enjoy the beauty around you!  We live in the most glorious place on earth!

Photos by Stirling Images Photography

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Enjoy the Simple Things in Life || Port Alberni Investment Advisor

Do you sometimes find life is just too complicated?  When we were children, our lives were simple.  Our basic “to-do” list might have looked like this:  eat, sleep, go to school, play. We knew what we wanted and we had no hidden agendas.  As we grew up, our lives became more complicated as we began to face challenges and hurdles.  We started creating expectations for ourselves and the people around us.  In time, people can begin to lose touch with who they really are and what they truly need in life in order to be happy.  In the words of Oscar Wilde, “Life is not complex.  We are complex.  Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing.”  A number of years ago I read the book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum.  If you haven’t read this book get yourself a copy and read it!  His book is filled with funny stories, words of wisdom, and the basic premise is that there are simple rules in life that we should hold true and clear and firm.   Even if you have read Fulghum's book, it’s something we should all review often to remind ourselves of these basic rules for good living.  Here's his poem:

Most of what I really need
To know about how to live
And what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there in the sand pile at Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life -
Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

By Robert Fulghum

Here are some photos to help remind you of the wonder and beauty around us.

Photos by Stirling Images Photography

The Journey and the Destination || Port Alberni Investment Advisor

From the time we are children, we begin to dream about what we are going to be when we grow up.  As we get older, we start to create goals for ourselves.  We try hard in school to get good grades so that we can go to college or university, so that we can get a well-paying job.  We want a well-paying job so we can make a lot of money to enjoy a comfortable life.  Each of these steps along the way can be considered destinations, or milestones, that we hope to achieve, but it is the journey along the way that is what living is all about.  Our life’s journey never follows an easy path.  We will encounter many challenges along the way that will test our courage, faith and resolve.    Our journey teaches us many lessons that ultimately lead to our destination and purpose in life.  Do you have an ultimate destination in mind and a plan to get there?  Even if you have to redirect along the way, it’s important to beginning mapping out your life’s journey, so that you have a plan to reach your ultimate destination.  In my last blog, I had some “life is like” quotes.  Here are a few more to get you thinking.

Life is like…

·  a canvas.  It begins blank and every day is like another brush stroke.

· a multiple choice question.  Sometimes the choices confuse you, not the question itself.

·  a mirror.  If you frown at it, it frowns back.  If you smile, it returns your smile.

·  a roller coaster.  You get jerked one way and another, and you never know what’s around the corner, but you just have to sit back to enjoy the ride.

· a game of cards.  The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it, is free will (Jawaharal Nehru)

· a hot bath.  It feels good while you’re in it, but the longer you stay in, the more wrinkled you get.

· a turtle.  You won’t get very far unless you stick out your neck.

· music.  It must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule. (Samuel Butler).

Here are some photos to get you thinking about how wondrous and beautiful life is.

Photos by Stirling Images Photography

Life is Like... || Port Alberni Investment Advisor

Have you ever noticed that some people seem to cruise through life without too many troubles, while others are plagued with all sorts of difficulties and hurdles along the way?  There are no guarantees with this life of ours, but I believe we can better cope with the demands and stresses of life if we have the right attitude.  Attitude is everything.  When a door is closed in our lives, we have to look for the window of opportunity to turn things around and make things better.  It isn't easy, and although we don't always have control on the things that happen to us in our lives, we can control our attitudes and actions. Some people are really good at bouncing back after adversity strikes, while others wallow in pity and despair.  If we can wake up each day and say to ourselves, each and every day of my life is a blessing, we are reminded just how lucky most of us are.  Here are some thoughts about how life can be compared to other things or situations.  

Life is like:

• A mountain.  It's hard to climb, but when you get to the top you not only feel a great sense of accomplishment, but the view is fantastic!
• The ocean.  It can be calm and still, or rough and turbulent.  But in the end, it's always beautiful.
• Photography.  Focus is important in order to get a good shot.
• A photo album.  You can look back at the moments, but never recapture them.
• A book.  Every day has a new page with adventures to tell, things to learn and tales to remember.  (From the movie "The Notebook")
• the game of basketball.  You can't play it alone.
• riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance, you must keep moving.  (Albert Einstein)
• like a novel.  You are the author and every day is a new page.

Here are some photos to share with you.  Watch for my next blog for more "life is like" quotes!

Photos by Stirling Images Photography