Vim, Vigor and Vitality: va va va voom!

I've chatted a little about healthy mind and healthy body. But I also think there's another aspect beyond the intellectual or the physical; a part of us that is just as important. Our vitality. It's in our heart and forms our passion. It's what shapes our personality and drives us to make something with our lives.

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Without this vitality, we are as coldly logical as a Vulcan at a chess match, as a robot counting beans, as a child's toy tinnily echoing the same musical snippet for hours upon endless hours at the press of a button. (Which makes me think of Grosse Point Blank with the killer-for-hire protagonist having a weekly session with his psych - "That's a terrible dream, Martin! The bunny has no soul, no anima!")

It's so so SO easy to get caught up in the repetitive nature of life: food, work, sleep, repeat. However I think it's not just important, but necessary that we nurture our passions. This is what we are alive for: the work is just to bring in money for us to feed, house and clothe ourselves. Our free time is for expressing ourselves and following dreams!

Perhaps it's reading. Or writing. Or craft. Or dancing. Or fixing cars. Or running marathons. Or playing sport with mates, or cooking, or travelling the world, or volunteering or painting or learning languages or... whatever it may be.

Make time for it. Don't put it off. Even if it's five minutes a week. Those five minutes are what adds meaning to life. Those five minutes are what will infuse your heart with joy. Those five minutes will let you smile when life throws a pie in your face. (Mmm, may it be lemon meringue)

Trying to maintain your calm when you're low on vitality will just leave you feeling empty. But filled with stillness when your vitality has been topped up... that's when you can breathe, and smile and just be.