| Microdosing Wellness 17mg 💊
"Hold up my brother, don't forget. Hold up my sister, just enough. There is a master plan in store for you if you just make it through."
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Hi + Hello
Happy Week 17! Shout out to sticking to the routine, even when you’re falling asleep. That was me last week writing this and while I was embarrassed when I read it back, I’m proud I didn’t let it slip. At the risk of sounding like edited chatgpt, doing something imperfectly to maintain momentum is much better than skipping or false starts in the attempt to achieve non-achievable perfection.
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✍🏾 #RandomSessionNotes
1. The word ‘gymnast’ originates from an ancient greek word that means ‘to train naked.’ And that’s exactly what the original athletes did. Can you imagine?
2. Also, relatedly, in ancient Greece, when men competed in certain sports or games or duels or whatever, women weren’t allowed to go. It was meant to be out of respect- they didn’t want mothers to see their sons get beat up. But I think the punishment of death is pretty harsh.
3. Embrace the youth you have.
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Go slower, take your time, take a nap, go with the flow, ride the ups and the downs, and dance on a table or two. I think this is the Cretan way. American society values fast moving, attention turning, all-day and all-night, go go go capitalism. That works for some - mainly the people profiting from it - but I don’t think it serves the majority of us. Coming from leisurely Europe, I was reminded yet again how much I subscribe to that American value. My patience for lack of urgency is very thin. It is not a good trait by itself but it’s especially not good because it’s quite selective. I pick and choose who/when I’m flexible with. But spending time in a culture where they focus more on hospitality, on spending time, on being welcoming and treating others (with food, even and especially unexpectedly), I can see how that could bring a lot of joy into one’s life (and reduce stress). It may take (me) some practice, but this seems well worth the try.
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😏 Unrelated Musings
Embrace your youth while you have it. This was the recurring theme of last week. If you are fortunate enough to live into older age, you will experiences both the up and downsides of aging, and while it’s a blessing, it can be challenging. Spending time with loving warm women predominantly over the age of 55, many approaching or over 70, youth - being healthy and mobile and spry without having to think about it - was something I could sense they missed. You don’t have to be down bad to miss what you had; sometimes things only change slightly and impacts more than you would think. The message I kept hearing in the comments was to maintain it. Maintain movement, maintain exploration, maintain learning, maintain living. Life will happen, and at the same time, we have to make life happen.
My favorite possible self writes another blog post in approximately one week! My mantra says I follow through, so I must! See you there!
xo janelle
ps. If you’re in the market for free custom workouts, I make them and update them every Monday here. For unrelated personal chaotic workout videos, random photos of my life and happenings, and more, come hang on IG =)
