Well, my friends, the day has arrived. My local snow season is over -
barring a blizzard. And even then, the resorts would not reopen once
they shut ... but I still could be XC and snowshoeing. Anyway, it does
little good to dwell on the past, so as my Buddhist practice
recommends, I work to stay in the present. I am making the transition
from winter to spring. Out come the kayaks, jet ski, mountain bikes,
mountain boards, dirt bikes, scuba gear and inline skates. The past 2
winters I have been learning to snowboard. This winter I also learned
to ice skate at 52 during the snow-less January drought. Next winter
hope to take up alpine snowboarding with hard boots. Always trying to
learn and improve. The other option is to lose abilities and not
improve.

I've been enjoying healthy soups and stews and taking saunas this past
winter but it is time for a change. The air is still crisp and clean
with no annoying bugs, so it is a good time for taking hikes or trail
run. Spring and early summer are great fire pit times before the humid
heat of summer sets in. I like to sit in my backyard making a fire in
our stone pit relaxing as I watch the logs turn into glowing coals and
the sparks shoot upwards into the dark sky. One equation for finding
happiness states, that to be happy we need someone to love, someone to
love us, something to do and something to look forward to. Sustainable,
healthy and positive activities fit the bill when it comes to having
something to do and something to look forward to. In the past, all I
had to occupy me was my addictions. How many addicts turn to their
addiction out of boredom? While it is good to be mindful of the present
moment, as the Buddhists say, we are still humans and cannot be 100%
perfect. So, when it comes to looking forward I now look foreword to
the new seasons and all that those seasons provide in new tastes in
healthy and natural foods and activities.

Many people run from the snow or the rain like it is the plague.
Myself? I run TO the snow and NOT away from it. In fact, I can go out
my backdoor and snowshoe or cross country ski if I please. If it rains,
I have rain gear and am not afraid of getting wet if it rains on my
parade. Thoreau had the well developed ability of finding contentment
and happiness in the present moment. This is what enlightenment is all
about - being at peace within and with all in whatever circumstances we
find ourselves and without pre qualifiers. How many times do you hear
persons talking negatively about the rain or the snow like it is hell.
For me it is heaven, for without snow I could not ski or snowboard and
without the melting snow and rain plants and life would not flourish on
earth nor could I kayak, jet ski or fish. Thoreau wrote of such
contentment in Walden, detailing the building of his log cabin. As he
chopped down the trees and hewed the logs, he appreciated little things
like the fragrance on his hands from the pine sap as he ate his simple
lunch among the wood chips and talked with local wanderers. In his own
words, "I made no haste in my work, but rather made the most of it."
Taking my que from Thoreau when it comes to snow...I make the most of
it.

Developing a list of positive time fillers was a big help with my
addictions. As Thoreau wrote in Walden , "The devil finds work for idle
hands." Before heading in this new direction, most of my time was
occupied by what to buy next, overeating rich foods and getting fat and
when I wanted a break from that I had a picnic basket of other
addictive areas to get drugged up with. Most of my new activities are
sport or movement related as they also serve the purposes of helping
with my overeating disease and have the added benefit of improved
health and don't produce clutter like some hobbies do. Sustainability
is of the highest importance with an activity; you see I can mountain
bike, hike, ski or canoe as much as I please and not produce and debt
or manufacture clutter or drive me to drink as some of my less healthy
pastimes would produce. In addition, these movement and sport related
activities help with battling depression and improving balance,
equilibrium and brain functioning.

Keeping busy is not the cure-all all for addictions, but it is a
necessary foundational pillar. (My earlier post entitled "7 Benefits
of Addictions Provide Us" goes into more detail on this subject, if you
missed it and want a copy write me.) There are other benefits from
activities that relax our minds or stimulate them for healthy growth
potential. We all seem to build up too much stress chemicals and sport
related activities helps dissipate these chemicals. (See my snip from a
magazine at end of post.) Bottom line: is the activity pleasing to us,
healthy, nurturing and sustainable? You can also use the SCA guidelines
for any questions you have asking: is the activity placing unreasonable
demands on my time and energy, will it place me in legal jeopardy or
endanger my mental, physical or spiritual health? Remember, as Jack
LaLane said, exercise and eating healthy foods are the king and queen
of good health. The king and queen must also sit on a thrown of low
stress living to run a good kingdom. If you hate to move and hate to
eat well, then do as he also said; "I developed a liking for things
that are good for me."

One time a lady wrote me about her addictions asking for advice. She
was 150 pounds overweight, a clutterer and abused alcohol and
prescription pain meds. She detailed how she had two hobbies in life -
she liked to knit and liked to bake. She would sit for most of the day
knitting. She had a large output from her knitting hobby and although
she gave some away, she would keep the bulk of it. This produced much
clutter as the output was continuos. She also liked to bake pastry and
would give away some of her baking output, but again ate most of it
herself. From all the sitting from her knitting hobby her back and
joints were sore most of the time. Her joints were irritated from her
sugar rich diet which was also loaded with salt. Carrying around an
extra person in fat did not help her joints either. At night she turned
to alcohol for some relief. During the day she would pop pills. She had
high blood pressure, swollen legs and high cholesterol to boot. From
her example, we can see her two hobbies were addiction promoting and
health destroying and not good ones for her if her goal was to live a
balanced and healthy life.

Can baking and knitting be healthy pastimes? Yes, but not as she did. A
knitter would have to limit their time sitting and would have be
mindful to exercise in order to make up for their inactive time while
knitting otherwise they will deteriorate from a sedentary lifestyle.
The only thing getting exercise with a knitter is the fingers and maybe
as little of the mind. If they suffer from clutter, then they have to
sell or give away all their output from knitting. With baking, it is
the same. If you suffer from fat and like to bake you cannot eat much
of your output and have to sell or give it all away. If you cannot
control yourself with just eating a little, then you have to give it
all away without a taste. If you cannot do that then find another
hobby. As the saying goes, "If you don't want to slip, then stay out of
slippery places." How did this lady end up after my advice? She kept on
going her own way, deteriorating and dropped out of the program. All I
can do is plant recovery seeds - I can't force them to sprout.

Many people say they do not like this or that when it comes to healthy
foods or exercise. I tell them; "you have been getting what YOU liked
all along and it got YOU where your at. Maybe YOU should try doing what
YOUR RECOVERY PROGRAM likes instead of what YOU like?" So, if your
happy with the status quo, then keep on keeping on, and if you are not
happy, try another way. You see, a person that thinks as they always
thought will continue to get what they always got. We need to learn
new ways and must unlearn old ways as well. Some addicts think that by
just reciting the 12 steps all will be well without changing a thing.
If nothing changes - nothing changes. My own life had to change
radically 180 degrees from how I used to live in order to get new life.
This is why most addicts fail, they refuse to change and want to keep
their old life as well as a new life. We have to choose which way to
go, but one thing is for sure, we can't have both.

Now I have much to look forward to in life for activities or rewards
that are not destructive and are sustainable. Activities to occupy
yourself that don't revolve around spending, eating, gambling, sex,
drugs or alcohol or other addictive areas only go so far in recovery
though. You also have to be careful to take time to relax and not
escape life through activity. Horace wrote, "Caelum non animum mutant
qui trans mare currunt--You can run away as far as you like but you'll
never get away from yourself." 12 Step work, reducing stress, repairing
the wreckage of the past and living a balanced life all contribute to
heading in the right recovery direction. I've enclosed some of my
activities below for your perusal. Also be careful you don't find
another excuse to compulsively spend with each new activity or sport
you take up. That is something I have to watch. For instance. If you
take up rollerblading, you buy one pair of skates and one set or
protective gear, etc. You don't buy 5 pairs of skates 5 different skate
bags and 8 sets of skate clothes, in all colors for each day of the
week plus one extra for holidays. If you want different skates, you
sell the old pair and then buy a different set. Everything is on a "one
in ~ one out" basis to avoid compulsive spending, stockpiling and
clutter. Sure, you have to spend initially to be set up in an activity,
but once set up the spending stops except for some very small
incidentals and fees.

Partial List of My Positive Time Filling Activities:

Hiking, Mountain Bike, Climbing Gym and Rock Climbing, Basketball,
Rollerblading, Trail Running, Jet Skiing, Racquetball, Swimming, Sun
Bath, Fishing, Canoeing, Skateboarding, Weight Training, Target
Shooting, Camping, Jogging, Kayaking, Motorcycle, Snowshoe,
Skiboarding, XC Skiing, Yoga, Massage, Meditation, Dirt Bike, Free
Lectures and Movies at a Local University, Snow Tubing, Snorkeling,
Scuba, Napping or Relaxing in a Hammock, Picnics, Library, Spiritual
Studies, Free Musical Events and Concerts, Church Services, Scenic
Seasonal Car Trips, Travel.

Here is a small snip in Psychotherapy magazine from an article on the
benefits of exercise with addiction.

Why does exercise have such an impact on the emotional brain?
Naturally, there is, first of all, its effect on endorphins. These tiny
molecules secreted by the brain resemble opium and its derivatives,
such as morphine and heroin. The emotional brain contains many
receptors for endorphins, and that's why it is so sensitive to opium-it
immediately radiates a sensation of well-being and satisfaction by
hijacking one of the emotional brain's own intrinsic mechanisms. Opium
has a powerful effect on emotions-in fact, it's the strongest known
antidote to the pangs of separation and mourning. However, when
derivatives of opium are used too often, they can become habit forming.
Brain receptors become inured to them, so the dose must be
systematically increased in order to produce the same effect. Moreover,
because the receptors become less and less sensitive, regular pleasures
lose all their power and potency-including sex, the pleasure of which
is often reduced in drug addicts.

The secretion of endorphins brought on by physical exercise does
exactly the opposite. The more the natural mechanism of pleasure is
gently stimulated by exercise, the more sensitive the mechanism itself
becomes. In addition to relishing sex and life's other big pleasures,
people who exercise regularly actually get more pleasure out of the
little things in life: their friendships, their cats, their meals,
their hobbies, or even the smiles of passersby in the street.
Essentially, it becomes easier for them to be satisfied, And in fact,
the experience of pleasure is just the opposite of depression.
Depression is defined, above all, by the absence of pleasure, more so
than by sadness, which is probably the reason why the release of
endorphins has such a potent antidepressant and anxiolytic effect.
Stimulating the emotional brain by exercise also kindles the immune
system. It promotes the proliferation of "natural killer" cells, making
them more aggressive against infections and cancer cells. The opposite
effect occurs with heroin addicts, whose immune defenses collapse,
often causing them to become gravely ill.

Exercise may also strengthen another physiological mechanism related to
emotional health. This mechanism involves what we have already learned
about heart rate variability. "'People who exercise regularly show a
greater variability in heart rate and more coherence than people who do
not. This means that their parasympathetic system, the physiological
"brake" that brings on periods of calm, is healthier and stronger. A
good balance between the two branches of the autonomic nervous system
is one of the best potential antidotes to anxiety and panic attacks.
All the symptoms of anxiety start with an overactive sympathetic
system, a dry mouth, accelerated heartbeat, sweating, trembling, a rise
in blood pressure. The sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are
always in opposition. Thus, the more stimulation the parasympathetic
branch receives, the stronger it becomes-like a developing muscle.




V (Male)


For free access to my earlier posts on voluntary simplicity, compulsive
spending, debting, compulsive overeating and clutter write:
vfr44@aol.com. Any opinion expressed here is that of my own and is not
the opinion, recommendation or belief of any group or organization.

Great post - informative & inspirational - thank you.