Live on Purpose

I follow a blog called “No Meat Athlete”, which is written by a vegetarian marathon runner named Matt Frazier. The reason I follow him is not because I wish to become a marathon runner or a vegetarian (both of which are noble ways of life, it’s just that neither are right for me), but because I find his philosophies on living a healthy lifestyle fascinating. I am in awe of this person who literally runs his body to heck fueled only by a plant-based diet. And he doesn’t just write about fitness and nutrition. He writes about overall wellness and how fitness and nutrition truly impact all other aspects of a person’s life, including mental and emotional wellness.

Recently, he wrote this post (No Meat Athlete/Live on Purpose ) and it really struck a chord with me. If you’ve been following meathead girly-girl for a while, you already know that I’ve been struggling lately. There are some chaotic things in my life that are beyond my control and you’ve been there with me as I’ve written about my struggle to overcome them. With some I’ve been pretty vague (for now), and others I’ve gone into more detail. But the post (linked above) hit home for me because he talks about ways of “Living on Purpose” and attempting to gain control of your own happiness, something that is well within anyone’s reach, you just have to try. This concept is easy to forget.
 

I felt inspired to do my own version of this. He talks about the 5 most important things he learned about “Living on Purpose” and I feel like at this stagnant point in my life, something needs to change and I’ve realized that rather than waiting for change to happen to me, I need to proactively change myself. So, here are my own 5 goals that I plan to work toward in the next few months and I hope I can inspire someone out there who may be struggling with a personal trial that seems insurmountable.

1.       Keep a journal.

I will be attempting to blog about my journey more often. Even if I’m the only one who ever reads any of these words, what matters is that they’ll be there for me to fall back on when I have a hard day, to remind myself that attitude is everything.

2.       Cultivate the art of letting bad things happen.

I won’t wallow in self-pity for one more day. I will remember that I do truly like my life the way it is, even though there are some things currently missing from it. There will be trials that will be hard on me, but I have total freedom to react however I wish. I choose to react positively, no matter what.

3.       Recognize the distractions that are ruining your life.

I am eliminating my facebook use for one entire month beginning today. I’ve already posted a temporary farewell and deleted the app on my phone.  Not only has facebook been a waste of my time lately, but more importantly, it has been a highway to steadily bring heartbreak right to my front door, as it were. I’ve finally had enough and I’ve realized that I’m doing it to myself. No one is doing it to me on purpose. It’s my own fault for checking in on my news feed so often. I think I will be happier and better off not knowing about every random person’s thoughts and announcements. Of course, I’m speaking of one bit of information in particular but I’m currently not ready to disclose that quite yet. The point is that I need to stop welcoming into my home things that will inevitably hurt me.

I already feel like I’ve thrown a giant burden off my back by taking this first step. Facebook has a way of making you feel like you have to care about things that shouldn’t really matter to you. Now that I’ve finally told myself that it’s ok not to give a shit, it’s sort of freeing.

4.       Read Seneca’s “Letters from a Stoic”.

I have not heard of this book before I read this blog post, but I’m intrigued as Matt mentions that it has been a more effective treatment for anxiety than any therapy or medication he’s ever tried. Couldn’t hurt to check it out.

5.       Eliminate fear by facing it head-on.

In order to do this, I’m going to have to talk to strangers. And as if that weren’t scary enough on its own, I’m going to be talking to them about something so personal, I’ve barely shared it with my own mother. More details to come later.

Stay tuned for updates.

Until next time.