| I am working on losing a little weight. In order to do that, I have to manipulate factors of my inputs (food) and outputs (exercise, exertion, etc.). The idea is simple, if I end in a calorie deficit, I will lose weight. There are, of course, other factors–nutrition, water, macros, timing, etc.–but basically, it works like that. You burn more than you take in, you drop weight. If you take in more than you burn, you gain weight. I think almost all things in our life are like this. If we want to add “weight” or “bulk” to our intellect, we have to take in more than we get rid of. We do this by reading, being curious, asking questions, learning for the sake of learning. We will always “burn” some of our intellect by forgetting stuff –and I am convinced that age itself does this–but we should never stop learning. Doing so makes our intellect shrivel up and die. Same with our spiritual side. Are you adding to your spiritual existence? Maybe this is through your religion, maybe relationships we have, maybe a connection to nature. Maybe a curiosity about origins of life and the science behind it. To me, these are all pursuits that are not intellectual or physical but instead the third part of us–the part that separates humans from other primates and animals–a calling. A calling to connect to people and to something bigger than us. A curiosity about our purpose. A need to have a purpose. I know that for some of you and sometimes for me too, just simply focusing on the physical is enough of a challenge. The idea of trying to be spiritual or intellectual is the last thing you want to consider. But just like your physical health, the other two aspects of our being are important to overall health and should not be ignored. If they must be ignored, don’t do it long. Getting them back into shape is way harder than maintaining. If you ever want to get coffee, give me a shout. I love just talking and visiting about life and our pursuit of it. |
