December 2015 – Endurance Free Living

Being Thankful

Sunrise from my back door, 15th December 2015

A couple of years ago, I heard a talk during a Hay House Summit event by a speaker who suggested that we try to find ten things to be thankful for each and every day.

While I don’t always get to ten, I do try to stop and appreciate the beautiful things in life. It doesn’t matter whether you believe in God, the Force or Father Christmas, the act of being thankful is a great way of encouraging your spiritual and emotional health. It’s so easy to get caught up in the routine, the worries of the day and to concentrate on the things that aren’t as we wish. Making the effort to stand back for a moment and really appreciate something – anything – and mentally say ‘thank you’ reminds us of the positive things in life and puts everything into perspective.

So start with saying thank you for one thing a day and who knows, you might end up by being grateful for ten things a day sooner than you think.

Remember: no matter how hard (you think) your life may be, there’s always something to be grateful for.

Here’s wishing you a wonderful Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Love

Richard

The Glass Is Half Full….

I’m often surprised by how a small shift in the way we look at things can have a huge effect on how we feel and what we see.

For example, once all the leaves have fallen off the trees, what we tend to see is an absence. We regret the leaves that are no longer there, particularly when the autumn has been as finely coloured as this one here in Switzerland. There can be something a bit depressing about all those bare branches and the splendor turned to mush on the ground.

But wait a minute! If we look closer, we can see loads of buds or catkins on the tree already prepared for spring, just waiting to explode with a bit of fine weather.

Simply by changing how we choose to look, absence and negativity has turned into a wonderful promise of spring and regeneration.

You feel better already, don’t you?

Have a great week

Richard

P.S. These are just two examples from my garden, a magnolia and a hazelnut bush (or corylus avellana contorta for those who are up on their Latin!)

Throw Them Away!

Three words about underarm deodorants and anti-perspirants:

THROW THEM AWAY!

Apart from the fact that these products contain ingredients that are bad for your health, the body has its own logic and there are reasons why the armpits sweat. Using crap to stop the sweat glands from functioning properly can only lead to problems.

Some years ago, I had a very painful cyst in the armpit because a sweat gland got clogged and the sweat was draining inwards rather than out. An intervention was necessary to drain the whole thing. I blame antiperspirants as the culprit.

So I stopped using anti-perspirants and deodorants about five years ago and haven’t looked back. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that I smell worse than before.

The fact is that if you shower regularly and wear natural clothes (cotton, linen, wool etc.) no one is going to complain about you smelling bad. The big push by deodorant/anti-perspirants manufacturers came after the introduction of nylon shirts and other synthetic fabrics. Just stop wearing synthetic clothes and the problem is solved. Nobody has complained about me smelling bad since I stopped using deodorants. I checked with my wife a number of times to be sure. And of course it’s one less thing to clutter the bathroom and to do in the morning.

And don’t forget that one of the things that attracts people to each other is their natural body odour. If you don’t like the natural smell of your partner, then there’s something wrong. Who knows – maybe covering up that natural odour with industrial products is confusing to the senses and a contributing factor to so many people getting into a relationship with someone who is unsuitable for them. Just a thought….

Love

Richard

Welcome To Endurance Free Living !

Welcome to Endurance Free Living! As the name suggests, the idea is to give you tips, suggestions and info designed to make your life simpler, healthier and more fun.

It’s my belief that a lot of people make life much more complicated than it needs to be. Life isn’t meant to be an endurance test, but it seems to become so for too many of us. So I’m hoping, in my small way, to help improve your standard of living and show you that IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT!

So do sign up.

We’ll have a lot of laughs along the way and anyway, what have you got to lose?

Love,

Richard