Balanced Life is a Myth

Much has been written about Michael Jackson and more will be written. Already there are umpteen tribute songs, latest rehearsal clips and what not. There will be a whole industry that will cater to ensuring his memory is kept alive and and more importantly ... making dollars !! :) May be it will help clear his debts !! :))



I was thinking of his early debut in the music world. He joined the family band at the age of 5. Under the hands of his father he underwent infinite rehearsals to hone his talent. But is this so unusual ? It does not seem so .. consider the following celebrities...

• Venus and Serena Williams - who say they do not remember ever learning to play ... they just knew how to play !!!
• Andre Agassi - whose father Mike Agassi is supposed to have hung a tennis ball over Andre's crib and taped a racket to his hand as soon as he could walk !!
  

I am sure there are others .... but I am not commenting on the parenting styles of the parents of these celebrities.


My question is more basic - would these people have become so great in their fields without the overwhelming and relentless focus in their areas of expertise ? Just think of some other top-notch people -

• Michael Phelps - Trains 5-6 hours every day ... 7 days a week ... 365 days a year ... no holidays / Sundays. This hardly leaves him time for anything else.
• Tiger Woods - Was a child prodigy who began to play golf at the age of two. He does weight training and of course practises golf daily especially his swings.
• Vishwanathan Anand - Daily tunes up anywhere between 4 - 10 hours depending on whether he has a match or not.
• Warren Buffett - He was just 6 when he displayed his ability to make money off cola bottles !!
• Bill Gates - Was never satisfied to be the best. He always had to push beyond.
• It is well known that vocalists, musicians, dancers, circus performers, magicians etc have to practise/rehearse daily. It is not enough to know their trade - they must hone it on a daily basis.
  

This kind of targeted knuckling down obviously does not leave much time to lead a so-called-balanced life. And what is a balanced life ? Is it really good-to-have ?


When I was working I had attended this workshop called "I can". There was an exercise in which we were supposed to draw 8 spokes of a wheel. Each spoke represented a section of our life - like - spiritual , professional , health, relationships like father/mother/sister/brother etc ....I forget the rest. One had to mark how proficient one was in each section. 0 was the center. 10 was the extreme and represented 100%. And at the end of it .. we were to join all these points on the 8 spokes. Needless to say the joined dots never formed a circle which was supposedly the result to aspire for. But today I believe living a balanced life is a myth. Like it or not unless we invest in our orbit of excellence - we will never be good - forget being the best !


In this process of trying to lead a balanced life ... we do not seem to recognize that it seems to be a path to becoming a "Jack-of-all-trades-and-master-of-none". Perhaps it is time to accept that living a balanced life is not really desirable. It seems to be recipe to make one mediocre .... It is more beneficial to focus on our core strengths in one / two domains and realize that everything else will be at the expense of these ... and rightly so. Being a master in any sphere involves - time, effort, discipline and yes; sacrifice.
More to the point - Natural ability or talent ... will just remain raw potential unless it is exploited. Couple of areas of our life will dominate our waking hours - making time and having time for any other interest is just a bonus. So forget trying to be a 'super-anything' .... just be excessively good in your mainstays and let the rest take care of itself !! :))
This begs the question ..... For some these child prodigies - did their parents do a good thing by helping them harness their abilities or did they do them a disservice by pushing them so early ?
Would the genius have surfaced without the prodding ?

On diets, conflicts and health ! :)

First of all let me be very clear - I don't diet. :) I don't believe in doing anything drastic with the body especially the diets that talk about surviving on juices alone or eating such miniscule amounts of food that all one would think about all the time is food ! :) Neither do I believe in one-miracle-plant/drug/grain/juice/tonic/exercise etc to make one full of vigor and life. :)

Having said that ... I am a believer in good eating habits ( does that sound like dieting ? Nope .. dieting in general seems to be synonymous with starvation ! :) ) and would love to get the motivation to exercise. The less said about this .. the better !!! I enjoy walking .. brisk walking and that is about it ... I need to get more exercise I know ... I need to just do it ! :)

Having read few ( very few ! ) books on healthy eating habits .... and obviously being no expert in nutrition , diet , exercise et al I have come across conflicting views. And sometimes wonder , what is the middle path. Once again none of these points I will be listing here - are to do with weight loss. Weight loss/gain is a side benefit, salubrious is what I am looking at.
Consider these points -

• 1 -> Sip warm water with your meal to aid digestion. ( Even within Ayurvedic writings they differ on this view )

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• Do not drink water with your meal since it will dilute the digestive juices and lead to incomplete/improper digestion.

I actually asked 2 ayurvedic doctors about this ! :) One said - how do you grind atta for idli/dosa ? You put little water to help the process but not so much that you lose the consistency of the atta. So a little water is good.
The other doctor said - what happens when you dilute acid with water ? Its efficacy decreases , same is true for digestive acids. :)

• 2 -> Minimize raw foods. Cooked foods are easier to digest.

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• Extensive Salads seem to be the way to go for better health !

• 3 -> Leave 4-6 hours between meals. Allow time for the the process of digestion to reach completion - including absorbing of nutrients in the small intestine and not just the digestion in the stomach. [ Do I sound gross ? Sorry ]

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• Eat every two hours to keep the metabolism going.

• 4-> Eat fruits on an empty stomach as a snack by itself not at the end of a meal.

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• Eat fruits only in the morning since the high quantity of fructose in fruits gets directly converted into triglycerides at any other time of the day unless you consume it post some exertion ( Whatever happened to the nutrients / fibre part of the fruit ? ) :)

• 5 -> Eat ghee - 3 to 4 teaspoons a day. This is highly recommended in Ayurveda.

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• Ghee is laden with calories. Avoid it completely.

• 6 -> Drink coffee - is a stimulant, it can decrease insulin resistance among other benefits attributed to it. These keep coming in the paper. ( Coffee with no sugar or milk )

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• Coffee interferes with absorption of minerals like iron and calcium. Increases acidity. So avoid completely.

• 7 -> Eat dark chocolate for the anti-oxidants. ( 70% or more than 70% cocoa )

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• Dark chocolates still have some sugar / sweeteners in them. And this miniscule amount renders the anti-oxidants in them useless.

• 8 -> Taking/Avoiding Vitamin supplements - a controversial topic for sure !!!

These are just a few simple ones that I have come across in my limited reading.
I am glad however to see that now the trend in dieting seems to be to do things in moderation. I am no fan of Atkins / GM / South Beach diet and the like. But then again may be I am speaking without having a complete knowledge of the same and am simply biased ! :)

These days what seems to be consensus is this - [ I say this b'cos these things are like a cycle I think - so what is good today most likely will not be so tomorrow ]

1. Say "No" to fruit juices. You lose the vitamins due to exposure to air, lose the fibre and get mainly the fructose. Instead eat whole fruits/vegetables.
2. Don't eat when angry, frustrated, depressed , bored etc. This interferes with good digestion and may also make you eat more.
3. Eat at home or as much home cooked food as possible. Eat in a quiet place. Avoid eating while walking/standing. If with family / friends avoid talks that can become agitating , negative or quarrelsome.
4. Give thanks for what you are about to eat. ( Yes this helps in digestion ! :) )
5. Savor the food - don't want TV while eating , don't talk on the phone or do other activities. Chew each bite thoroughly.
6. Use fresh, local, seasonal foods as much as possible.
7. Eat a little good fat before or during a main meal like lunch - e.g. walnuts / peanuts. I guess this where our Indian ghee comes into picture.
8. Keep regular meal times. Sleep well.
9. Do not stick to only one type of food - only low carbs , only proteins , only juice etc. It works against the body and robs you of vitality and strength.
10. Exercise. Stretch. Do weight training - use body for resistance ( e.g - yoga ) or weights it does not matter. These help the joints. And ladies - No, you don't get bulky. You get toned ! :)
11. Don't walk post a meal. It takes the blood away from the digestive process. According to Indian outlook - Vajrasana is the only asana recommended post a meal since it aids digestion by directing blood towards the stomach.
12. Avoid sweeteners. They have known side effects.
13. Low-fat, low-sugar,sugar-free, fat-free, baked food items - check the labels carefully. They might be just 1-2 gms lower than the full-fat items. Plus they might have other ingredients that pose a health risk.
14. Have lassi/buttermilk post meal. Acidophilus ( live culture ) helps maintain the good bacteria in your intestine.
15. Avoid Colas. No trans-fat. [ Using of deep fried oil again in cooking ]
16. Drink plenty of water.
17. Always eat breakfast.
18. Wake up at sunrise. :) [ Heard this one before eh ? :) ]
19. Meditate at least once a day.
20. Have dinner 2 hours before sleeping or before 8pm. Don't have a heavy dinner.
21. Your waist size is a better indicator of your health than your weight.
22. Your body needs fat !
23. Nutrients are more important than calories - Case in point - Brown rice vs White rice. Brown rice has more calories but is more nutrient rich than white rice.
24. A little stress is good for the body. It is when it becomes too much or chronic that problems creep in.
    

Ok this list is getting unwieldy. Am stopping here ! :). But the guidelines here are by no means exhaustive. :)
Let me know what you think ! :)