What a way to spend a perfect Saturday afternoon.
As the Hatted Writer, new experiences. This is fun(?)
As my shirt’s brand states, FUNKITA, which is an English and Malay word combined meaning “Our fun”; join me in this fun event.
WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET.
In front of you is both the problem and the solution.
Focusing on the problem is easier, as it is easier to complain about it and not do anything about it.
On the other hand, if your focus is on a solution; then the problem may not be a problem for too long.
When your focus is always on solution seeking, you will be the leader always charting and championing new paths for people with you and around you.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
I am finding it quite difficult to write at this very moment, not for the lack of an idea, or two, a story, or more; to have an article up for publication. It is not that I am physically unable….well, yes,…a bit.
Just stood on the weighing scales. It is not that I don’t do this ritual every day in the morning. Then again, after I come back from my 15,000 step (roughly just over 11.0 kilometers [km] or about 6.786 miles) daily walk. And then again, in the night. I take these statistics very seriously.
Coming back to having stood on that platform, that same device that people use in hopes of “telling” or “showing” them good news; however it doesn’t. Yet day in and day out, we still use it – the weighing scales. I am 6.0kg over weight. Now, how did this happen? How did this sneak past me? As a neighbor of mine, Mrs. Teoh exclaimed to me as I walked past her on my walk yesterday, “Wah! You very fat now.”
Could all the articles on my / our (including Jeannie & Laura) visits to the many restaurants and eateries have something to do with it? Well, maybe, just a little bit. However, we don’t really over eat, just have regular meals each day.
Yet, how did 6.0kg get past me? I am one who tracks my weight diligently. I go for my brisk walks. Brisk here means that the average person age 65, walks 1km in 11 minutes. I first hooked on to the speed about 4 years ago. I had to meet this time or inside this time of 11 minutes per kilometer for each of the 10km. Which means my 10km walk would take 110mins or less. In recent times, my overall total timing has slowed down by 3 – 5 minutes.
I believe that one of the biggest culprits to my weight gain is S-U-G-A-R! When I think back over the last few months, my sugar intake, be it in food or drinks has been on the rise. I love chocolate and have been eating more than my fair share per day or week.
I don’t have any sugar health issues. It is just that I want to keep my weight within the limits. For instance, when I eat something that contains a lot of sugar, I will cut back or refrain from taking in more sugary food and drinks for a couple of days at least.
Snacking is a bad habit that I used to pride myself in completely abstaining from. It is a habit not worth having and keeping.
So, while I have all the tools and knowhow to keep being overweight at bay, there is something else that I need to get back on track towards a healthy weight and get rid of my potbelly, too. That is DISCIPLINE.
I thought I was very disciplined with a regimented routine. However, the 100 grams that slip by here and the couple of hundred grams there that escape my notice, adds up. I noticed it, though, I often think I will make up for it the next day. That “next day” has not come in a long time.
Now, I have decided to “take the bulge by its flab” and address the issue. Over the last couple of days, I have cut off most of the sugar and reduced my food intake. I have also refrained from all snacking. Well, almost all. Since I love chocolate, I treat myself to a small piece a day.
I have also put more vigor in the “vigorous”, daily brisk walking. I have put in some stomach crunch exercises (10 x 3 rep) per day. The result after 3 days. Weight is down by 2.2kg. Once I regularize my healthy weight, I will work on keeping it steady.
What is better than self-control or discipline? Don’t be tempted.
HAPPINESS IS A SKILL.
IT IS ALSO A CHOICE.
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
THE CHOICE IS YOURS. LIVE IN EXISTENCE OR LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
Choices, choices…
You can choose to run your day, or let your day run you. Which would you prefer?
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
Life never said it was going to be easy. We can’t let tough times define us.
Every moment in our lives that has not yet arrived, is our future. No one has lived it for us. No one can live it for us.
We get to choose how we live. Because we are inexperienced living our future now, we are bound to make a mistake or two or three. That’s o.k.. Just pick ourselves up, and keep moving forward.
Remember, there is no such thing as “no choice”. And, there is no time to kill or be bored. We don’t have enough of it – time..
We can’t always choose the music life plays us, but we sure can choose how we dance to it. Put on your dancing shoes and dance…
~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller
There is no such thing as “No choice”. We always have a choice.
Life is about making choices. That’s the difficult part of life – making choices.
Doing nothing is a choice.
Nelson Mandela had a choice. He stood up to apartheid. He was sent to prison. He must have asked himself, over and over again, “Why am I doing this? Why do I need to suffer here in prison? He had a choice to give up and die in prison. 27 years in prison.
Mandela chose to live. His conviction (no pun intended) in his belief, in his cause, in his struggle to end apartheid was his oxygen to live. He became the symbol and probably the reason, that all of mankind should be treated equally; regardless of race, religion, creed.
J. K. Rowlings – yes, many now know who she is – the more than just “very successful” author, Harry Porter. All was not rosy and humpidity hunkey-dorey during her early writing years.
Rowling was almost poor and homeless. She, as a single mother; and her daughter, lived on benefits. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had been written in cafes in Edinburgh.
She said on Twitter that she received “loads” of rejections.
Rowling still remembers her very first rejection. The agent didn’t even send a proper letter — just a slip of paper — and instead of critiquing the manuscript, he went after her stationery, saying, “The folder you sent wouldn’t fit in the envelope.”
Later Rowling recalled that she “really minded about the folder, because I had almost no money and had to buy another one.”
Can you imagine if she chose to give up? No Harry Porter. She finally got it published – Her literary agent (not her first agent), Christopher Little accepted her manuscript and sent it to 12 different publishers before it ended up with Bloomsbury.
For me, I have been told several times, more-so by publishers; to not waste my time in writing. “Writing articles and books are for professionals like us,” they said. They talk with big companies backing them. They tell me, that it is extremely difficult to get recognized, since there are literally multitudes of writers trying to get noticed. There may be publishers who may buy your manuscript / book for a nominal fee and shelf it, “not wanting to confuse the public / readers – those who would purchase books; with more choices on the bookshelves”. There are also writers who have to pay publishers to publish their book.
So, I have the choice – not waste my time with publishing all these articles here in http://www.leatherpotato.com; and forget the idea of considering writing a book. Or two.
Or, to continue doing what I am doing.
The thing is; I am the 1 sperm amongst millions of others, that made it! I am not about to give in to some statistics and some publishers who don’t have the foresight to recognize talent even if it is right in front of their nose.
I know why I am doing this. I started with an idea to create a dent in the world – an impact to impact people’s lives with happiness, joy, hope. Entertainment, too. My “J. K. Rowling” day will come. I know it will.
If it has to be, it is up to me. I made my choice.
Have you made yours?
