The following is a poem written by a teenager with cancer. She wants to see how many people will get her poem.

“Slow Dance”

Have you ever watched kids on a merry go-round,

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight,

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,

When you ask how are you, do you hear the reply?

When the day is done do you lie in your bed,

With the next hundred chores running through your head?

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast.

Time is short, the music won’t last.

Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow,

And in your haste, not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch, let a good friendship die,

Cause you never had time to call and say, “Hi”?

You better slow down, don’t dance so fast.

Time is short, the music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,

you miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

it’s like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life is not a race, do take it slower,

hear the music, before the song is over.

###

I decided to do a little research after this poem was forwarded to me for the 237th time and find out who this teenager with cancer actually is. It turns out this poem wasn’t written by a teenager with cancer!

However, I still like it.

It reminds me to slow down. And that’s the name of the game with eating. So think about slowing down today and this weekend!

*Bonus*

The following is a poem written by a Body Tutor with a mission. He wants to see how many people he can help via his simple philosophy – consistency.

You better slow down; don’t eat so fast,
amazing how your food will last!

And if you do, you’ll eat much less,
your MBT will be impressed!

So please slow down; be in pursuit,
of wearing that hot bathing suit!

A few weeks ago I wrote about work. I’ll re-post below so we can reference:

Clients tell me sometimes they’re not in the mood for it. Sometimes, I’m not in the mood for it, either.

But what’s it?

Why do we need to be in the mood for something to do the work? And yes, it’s work. Existing isn’t work. But living? That’s work. Thriving? That’s a lot of work.

It’s called work because it’s difficult. Not because we need to be in the mood for it.

Very few people wake up each day in the mood to eat healthfully or in the mood to exercise. People aren’t usually in the mood to push themselves harder than they’ve pushed before or in the mood to be brutally honest with themselves which can be quite uncomfortable.

Of course, what we’re in the mood for is irrelevant to how our body performs or how we exist, live or thrive.

This week don’t pay so much attention to what you’re in the mood for. Pay attention to the work.

Then when you’re thriving, you’ll be in the mood to continue thriving.

That’s what I wrote a few weeks back. However, what if you’re working as hard as you can though?

(Although, I truly believe we can all work hard and try harder. I don’t think any of us can honestly look at ourselves in the mirror and refute that.)

But, if you think you are, how about this…

Instead of trying and working harder, how about trying different and working different?

How are you approaching today a little differently? How are you approaching your workout a little differently? How are you going to approach dinner a little differently? How are you going to approach after dinner differently?

Those are the questions to ask yourself.

Yes, I know! Big claim in the subject line. But I believe I can deliver. Here it is…

So a monk tells Joshu, “I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me.”

Joshu asked, “Have you eaten your rice porridge?”

The monk replied, “I have eaten.”

Joshu said, “Then you had better wash your bowl.”

At that moment the monk was enlightened.

I love this little story. Because it reminds me to stop thinking so much and just take the next action.

It’s so easy to get caught up in figuring out answers to questions like, “What’s the meaning of life?” and all sorts of other mind-numbing questions.

It’s also so easy to get frustrated and intimidated when we have a long journey ahead of us.

When something seems overwhelming – like trying to lose weight – we usually choose choice C: None of the above and do nothing.

Instead, just focus on your very next meal. Your very next workout.

Focus on your very next action, your very next interaction, your very next task.

That’s it. That’s all you can do.

Although you can worry about eating poorly this coming weekend, there’s nothing you can do right now. Except, focus on your very next meal.

When in doubt…just wash the bowl.

Don’t ask questions. Don’t ponder.

I hope you had a great weekend! This weekend we celebrated my mom’s birthday (that was for her 60th) – although it was a little early because next weekend my grandma (my father’s mom) is coming into town and being that my parents are divorced – it wouldn’t work so well. Thankfully, my mom is understanding.

Wow, that’s way more information than you needed! Speaking of information…

So I’m a reader. And I have this insatiable desire to know what’s inside books and to learn everything I can about certain subjects.

I always enjoy talking about books people are reading too. Once in a while, I’ll hear about a book that’s not so good but the person always says something along the lines of, “I still have to finish it!”

I used to be the same way. However, I realized that if I’m not enjoying the book why continue?! That’s a lot harder than it sounds for many people. Actually, I still have trouble doing it.

I think you guessed where this is going. We tend to finish whatever is on our plate, no matter how bad it tastes or how not worth it, it is. I think this is the same part of our brain that feels guilty about the books. “All the starving children in Africa,” we think.

Clearly, irrational but it makes us feel better. Because us finishing our plates has nothing to do with African children and everything to do with our health, fitness and waistline.

So, this week, if you’re eating something that just isn’t doing it for you – stop eating it! It’s very empowering.

And it’s funny because we feel guilty about wasting food yet we don’t feel guilty about adding unnecessary calories to our system.

Either way, you’re paying for it. One is with wasted money and the other is with wasted energy trying to burn off those extra calories.

Okay. That’s enough. Enough reading my daily inspiration for now.