Circadian rhythm is the biological clock that regulates our patterns of wakefulness and sleep. Various factors can affect when and how melatonin, the “sleep hormone”, is produced. By regulating the factors that influence our circadian rhythm, we can improve that fundamental aspect of good health: sleep.
We humans are animals, too. Survival is bred in us. Before we can become our best selves, we must get our basic physical and psychological needs taken care of. Not just enough but more than enough to keep our brains from going back and dwelling on a lack of resources in any area. Having a reserve calms that fear and allows us to focus on higher goals.
Having a workable self-care routine is essential if you want to live an Excelerated Life™. Focusing on the fundamentals is a good place to start your self-care.
We have been conditioned to see selflessness as “good” and selfishness as “bad”. Consider the viewpoint that neither one is good or bad but are extremes of behavior, two sides of the same coin. Take excellent care of yourself, not as a selfish or a selfless act, but so that you can give your best in Service to the world.
Building reserves at each level in the hierarchy of needs allows you to focus on the next level. Plugging the drains on your resources in the areas of time, energy, money, security, love, and self-esteem is the first step of building reserves in these areas, a necessary action for climbing the pyramid of self-actualization.
Research points to links between poor sleep and ill health. Adequate sleep is one of the fundamentals of the good health which is essential for us to flourish and to live a life of well-being, meaning, and purpose.
Selffulness is taking the responsibility to know one’s own needs and to get them met while acknowledging and being of service to others. Excelerated Selffulness™ requires that we take excellent care of ourselves, not for selfish reasons, but so that we can give our best in Service to the world as we seek to fulfill our larger purpose.
Growth without risk is impossible but taking fool-hardy risks leads to destruction. You can increase your risk tolerance and help mitigate the effects when a risk plays out by building reserves. You can further enhance the one and guard against the other by creating Super Reserves.
The activities that lead to a strong, healthy body give us a strong, healthy brain as well. Unfortunately, some experts have found that about 1/2 the activities we engage in lead to improved brain health but the other 1/2 are detrimental to a healthy brain. Doing a little more of the healthy activities and a little less of the unhealthy ones, add up over time to major improvements.
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Family Curse
My mother died from dementia, more or less. That wasn’t the official cause of death but a few days before she passed, a doctor told us how her brain had shrunk. She forgot how to swallow so she could no longer eat or drink anything and, then, she forgot how to breathe.
Her dementia was genetic, caused by a specific recessive gene, which can lead to hyperhomocysteinemia – too much homocysteine in the blood. We found that out years before her passing when she first began showing the signs of memory loss. Once we discovered that it was a genetic trait, I went to my doctor to be tested. I have the same recessive gene. I found it interesting that, in the report, the doctors labeled it “the family curse”.