The Philosophy of a MIDI
I have learned over the last 15 years, through MY own experiences and through the experiences of others that:
None of us have enough time, confidence, or patience.
We make excuses because we are either bored, insecure, or confused NOT necessarily because we are lazy.
We want everything to happen now, and once we achieve our goal(s) we expect the results to remain in place with little or no maintenance or lesson learned.
We ALL have insecurities regarding our bodies but MOSTLY our abilities.
We haven’t got the knowledge
We don’t know where to start
We don’t know who to believe and trust
An increasing number of us are suffering from self-doubt, lack of self-confidence, anxiety, and depression
We don’t need the perfect body we just want one that works properly for us
We just want others to be proud of us BUT mostly we want to be proud of ourselves
Because of the clever world of marketing, WE only receive information that will sell us a product. WE are not given the full picture that will let US make an informed decision.
I came across this poem over 15 years ago and it has stuck with me ever since….and, unfortunately, is still relevant today
An exert of The paradox of our time – George Carillon
We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less.
We buy more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees, but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgement, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years.
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour.
We conquered outer space, but not inner space.
We’ve done larger things, but not better things.
We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less.
We plan more, but accomplish less.
We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait.
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom.
I have come up with what I think are simple philosophies to combat our current predicament and REBOOT the MIDI (mini or max) mindset… which is the most important thing of all:
Function Over Aesthetics
What I mean by this is, focusing on your ability to do life, not on how you look while doing it (let’s face it, we wear clothes!)
The latter will come naturally if you are taking care of yourself, if you are accountable for you own wellbeing. I have observed women sacrifice their health, function and mental health in order to look like someone else. They have loaded up on supplements instead of real wholefoods and their metabolisms have taken a hammering. There is so much more to becoming ‘BETTER’ than just focusing on LOOKING BETTER.
As we get older it is HARDER to shed the kilos and look like a 20 year old! So why do we create and become obsessive about unattainable goals?
Be real, be realistic… take some of the pressure off and enjoy the life YOU have, while you still have it.
Do this by focusing on being a stronger, fitter, prouder, better functioning, more fluid YOU.
I have never focused on the way I look, but more on how strong, fit and fluid I need my body to be in order to achieve the life I want to live.
The result has always been that I have a strong, athletic body that can DO stuff… lots of stuff, and people say I Iook 10-15 years younger.
The byproduct of changing your mindset to focus on capability and sustainability is a more toned, fit, more able body that you will be SO proud of.
Passion Over Obsession
This is heart vs head. If you’re obsessed about ‘something’, you have tunnel vision, you lose your ability to think laterally and adapt. You HAVE to do something and there is no deviating from the plan. You lack the ability to adapt to external influences, which… is called LIFE.
This is not a healthy balanced state of mind. It leads to emotional extremes, unnecessary pressures and undesired failures. You lose the ability to see the forest for the trees, the big picture, however you want to put it. The ‘why we are here’. The obsession with aesthetics leads to the imbalance of our NATURAL body and mind functions.
Passion, on the other hand comes from the heart, it is a true, raw, natural emotion. It’s not something we have to force, it is something that FILLS us happiness, pride and fulfillment. I love the outdoors and connecting with nature, its puts a twinkle and sparkle in my eye. I don’t need to do it ALL the time. The commitments of life get in the way BUT when I do, the benefits are always SO rewarding. I’m just filled with contentment and peace. I can still operate without it but I know when the timing is right, it is a rewarding and essential part of my lifestyle. It’s one of the things that recharges me!
FOCUS on:
LIVING OVER EXISTING | doing over watching | experiencing over assuming | quality over quantity | accountability over blame
LEARN, UNLEARN & RELEARN
My solutions to tackling the current environment for a MIDI (mini or max) are the 6 Rules of inergi
Balance
Know that there is more than one element to physical wellbeing….there are 4…we need do to address all of them
Duration
If we are smart we don’t need to sacrifice a lot of TIME
Style
Focus on a 3D, multifacet movement in order to be fluid and strong through all anatomical planes.
Intensity
This is how much effort you needed to put in to make your time effective. I’m not a big fan of big corporation slogans but there is not truer words than NIKE’s… JUST DO IT
Variety
Mix it up, don’t allow yourself to get bored and don’t allow your muscles to get bored.
80:20
The easy, no bullshit rule of thumb of eating and drinking.
We are given our bodies at birth, they are always going to be the length, the breadth and depth that they are.
Be the proudest, capable and most sustainable version of YOU.
You were born an original, don’t die a copy.
In this day and age TIME is a biggie, the commodity that is most precious. TIME MANAGEMENT was a term in management textbooks and in the corporate world. Applied in situations of HIGH achievement. Now it’s valid for EVERYDAY life.
None of us ‘have time’ so we all need to ‘make time’. It comes down to planning and committing. You need to negotiate with your affected parties ( your spouse(s), parents, children, employer, employee, clients, pets, animals).
Get your shit together and make shit happen!
Let’s be real, when you are doing sweet f*k all, once is better than none, twice is better than once, three times is better than twice.
Don’t be afraid of getting older, be afraid of being OLD…
I have found, that as I age my focus has changed. In earlier decades I could SMASH myself and it was all good. My body just took the hits and thrived from it, I thrived from it. Those days are no longer with me so now its time for me to ADAPT. Now my personal focus is on range of movement and pain management. Knowing how to manage ME whilst still achieving MY LIFE goals. Finding the physical balance!
MY body may feel f*ked at times but its not, its still amazing, its just suffering from wear and tear. The state it is in now, has been accumulating over the years from: overuse, under recovery, injuries, accidents, poor posture which have all caused muscular imbalances.
In the past my body has naturally allowed me to achieve whatever I wanted it to, without me even thinking twice. Now, in my MIDI years that has changed. Its time to GIVE back, I need to help it not hinder it. Its time for me to take time, make the effort and treat it with complete respect. Lengthen it, strengthen it, fuel it, hydrate it, nourish it … LOVE IT
Our bodies are amazing, if we treat them with the respect they deserve and they will always reciprocate in kind. Abuse and neglect them, try and cheat them and we will slowly break them…
inergi is all about being mindful of the issues and coming up with solutions. There are always solutions just maybe not the ones you expected. So lets LIVE life longer and PROUDER, and create new memories well into our MIDI years.
YOUR Body is a direct byproduct of YOUR lifestyle and YOUR mind… so it’s NEVER TOO LATE.