Introduction

Mountains will appear often in my blog because for me they represent the challenge to strive upward, to improve myself, to rise to new heights, and at the same time they calm me. Mountains represent the solitude of nature, when you are alone surrounded by beauty. It is a spiritual moment when you are at one with God, nature and the universe. I feel most alive when I am in the mountains.

Then, however, we have to descend to our everyday life and that is when the problems begin. From this magical moment of harmony with nature, we find ourselves in the chaotic world of stress. We have a thousand demands on our time and energy, and we feel drained. I don't know about you, but I no longer reach the end of the day to feel drained, often I don't make it to noon, and sometimes I wake up and already feel that way. Modern life stresses us. Its the traffic, the noise, the kids, the boss, the co-workers. It's the deadlines, and mess, the bills and the debt, the husband, the wife, the parents and the kids. It is people who are most close to us and even those far away as we participate in their tragedies and pain through modern media. There is no let up, the expectations to do more, to do better are always with us.

To take off the pressure we eat, we drink, we go shopping, we sit and vegetate in front of the TV, we do anything not to think of all we "should" do, and of course all of this just makes it worse. We gain weight because we eat too much, we get into debt because we spend too much, we get depressed because we can't do it all and we feel we should.

If this describes your life then this is the blog for you.

I want to take a trip over the next months and years through all the self-help literature about losing weight, managing stress, managing finances, dealing with time pressures, overcoming depression and just becoming more aware of my inner world to better know my self. I am doing this not because I am a master in all of these areas, but because I am out of control. My way of gaining control is to read, study, meditate and share ideas. So, if you feel out of control and you want to share this journey with me, please come and visit my blog.

I have thought to organize the blog according to days of the week. Each Monday I will talk about weight loss and dieting; Tuesday will be for stress and depression. Wednesday will be about managing finances, Thursday will deal with self-organization and time mangement and Friday will just be for fun. This way if you are just interested in one subject you can visit that day. (You see I have already taken control through organization!)

Since today is Friday and is just for fun, try this test to see one aspect of your personality:

(self test taken from Kokology 2 by Tadahiko Nagao and Isamu Saito, Simon & Shuster, NY 2001)

If you are not a coffee drinker substitute with hot chocolate

Coffee in general and coffee shops in particular are closely linked with ideas of the adult world and social relations. Somehow despite the caffeine, in the proper setting coffee soothes the nerves and relaxes the mind. A seat in a secluded corner with a good book and maybe some soft jazz in the background provides an ideal environment for many to take a step back and relax from the strains of work and enjoy the true luxury of doing nothing at all, if only for the time it takes to finish a cup. Take a moment for yourself. Immagine yourself in the coffee shop with your cup.

1. Describe the atmosphere and ambience of the shop you choose.

2. You have ordered the cup of coffee, what do you do while you are waiting for it to be brought to your table?

3. When the coffee arrives describe its aroma, its taste and how hot it is.

The answer my friends is for next Friday.

I will see you on Monday for diet tips.