I’m in my 77th year on planet earth, and while many others have fallen by the wayside, I am so lucky to have made it this far.
I wrote this blog to introduce you to a new idea.
We all know that there are many ways that you can enhance your life, to enable you to live a happy and productive one. Often these concepts can be difficult to acquire.
To this end we are developing a new platform which revolves around one powerful, central idea which will help people to do this.
Mindfully adding life to your years, which conveniently coins a new acronym
MALTYY
Today I’d like to introduce you to this new idea and will subsequently add many layers to this in an on-going blog.
I also invite you to engage with me, and fellow EFK-ers, on our social media channels. Tell us your own experiences and ideas. I am convinced that there is potential here to create a powerful new movement for good.
Shapes and Sizes
As a serial people-watcher I have always been fascinated by the incredible range of shapes and sizes that I witness before me.
How they are actually coping with life is often clearly reflected in the way they walk, their posture, and general appearance and demeanour. Does their mouth naturally have a happy up curve or is it resolutely set in a downward curve?
Most of us are born as beautifully formed, little beings, blissfully entering this complex world of ours. From here we go on a steep, and convoluted learning curve. Much of it is a puzzle to us.
Both our attitude to life and having access to appropriate know-how at the right time are the two crucial elements in solving this puzzle.
The ultimate outcome of all this is dependent upon complex factors, mostly dominated by our genes and environment.
There is no avoiding gravity and, as the years pass by, our skin begins to sag and bag, and wrinkles often abound.
How our life turns out can also be determined by fate. Chance meetings and serendipitous moments can change life’s pathway in an instant. Whilst we can’t control that, we can control other factors which help to dictate our success, health and happiness.
Where We Come In
It’s tragic that maladies like diabetes and obesity dominate populations throughout the world. It really doesn’t have to be this way.
We’re hoping that our new ‘MALTYY’ concept will provide a platform to help you add life to your years.
So what do we mean by mindfully adding life to your years? Let’s examine mindfulness first.
It simply means living in the present moment. And intentionally, without judgement, being more aware of what’s happening in the present moment.
We live in a complex world, with many distractions demanding your attention. From the minute your alarm goes off and you get your day underway, you’re dealing with myriad tasks, sensory inputs and things that demand your attention. Your day flashes by.
As you are working, doing tasks, driving home, you are preoccupied by all manner of thoughts, both positive and negative.
And so it goes on, day after day, year after year.
The Moment
You are not living in the present moment, because your busy blur of a life is dictating otherwise.
Practising mindfulness will help you see your life with a new clarity, see where the cracks are appearing and put strategies in place to put them right. You’d take a little time each day to, non-judgmentally, look at what’s going on in that particular moment.
There is a simple trick which helps you to do this.
Too Busy?
Let’s say your problem is that you are always too busy, and know that your inability to say ’no’ is at the heart of this problem.
So, in this present moment, rather than fretting more about this, you non-judgmentally ask yourself an open-ended question like, “How am I going to fix this?”
Your answer might be to put some time aside that night to talk to your partner about this. Having done this, you can now park this up and focus on any other issue that you need to deal with.
Funnily enough, this business about not being able to say ‘no’ can be quite crucial. I have coached a few people on this issue and, after putting that same open-ended question to them…after a bit of prompting… simple solutions like this have appeared.
Next time this happens to you, just say: “I just need a little time to think about this, and I’ll come back to you tomorrow.”
Rather than having made a split-second decision, saying yes, and kicking yourself afterwards, you have bought yourself time to consider the proposition properly.
Add Life to Your Years
Mindfulness is a very useful tool in helping to add life to your years. It can also be applied to any other aspect of your life, like your weight, finances, how you listen, your breathing, exercise and so on.
So here’s the thing – we’ve all been gifted these amazing bodies of ours, and this is our one and only time on this planet. We need to do it justice!
I am really excited about this new concept, and will be publishing my ‘Maltyy’ blog regularly, and look forward to getting some feedback from you.
