Unit 3

I'd rate my physical well-being as a 5, my spiritual well-being a 7, and my psychological well-being an 8.  Managing my weight has been an issue for me since I was child.  Over the past 8 months I've started making small lifestyle changes such as cooking more often, taking the stairs at work, and keeping a food diary to truly monitor my weight problem.  One small change led to another, and 8 months later I've lost 60 pounds, Wohoo!  One of the major changes that is helping me reach and sustain my goals deals directly with my spiritual and mental being.  I was introduced to the incredible world of hiking and was astonished at the wonders I've missed out on.  Hiking allows me to relax and focus on the now and the beauty of nature that I'm surrounded by.  It's allowed me to truly reflect on myself which allowed me to truly understand what lifestyle changes I needed to make to be a truly happy, healthy, and spiritual person.  With this new-found activity, I find myself to be a much happier and optimistic person.  My goals are rather simple.  Physically, I want to run my first 5k within the next 6 months.  To reach this goal, I will continue to run the trails in my area as the terrain is difficult and will be great for training.  Spiritually, I would like to participate more in the community or more volunteer work.  I think cleaning up the forests or bluffs in my area would be a great way for me to increase my spirituality.  My psychological well-being goal is to understand that things take time.  I am not happy where I am at in terms of my career, which makes me feel extremely negative about my job.  However, I know that the benefits of my job allow me to pay for my schooling.  I need to think in terms of my education to get a better job than my current circumstance.  I think by doing this It will make going to work easier as I hope to stay focused on completing my degree.

I truly enjoy the meditation exercises.  I find myself slipping into a relaxed state quicker every time I try.  I was able to feel each of the colors as the speaker was describing them.  Once everything was over, I felt energized and alive, almost as if I had taken a short power-nap.