Sport, Slumber, Sparkle the S plan!

Now that we are 'entertained' 24 hours a day it is difficult to strike the balance of 'normal life'.

What does 'normal life' mean to you? Outside of time spent working to earn money, how do you divide up your free time? What do you prioritise? And how do you make sure that the balance is right?

There are so many pulls on our time with an ever widening media world, from the internet with its endless reading and entertainment opportunities  to hundreds of tv channels, film on demand and all the equipment that we can buy to keep us linked in to all of this even when we are out and about.

It becomes quite hard to ever just do one thing at a time, and when it is all overwhelming, human nature just reverts to the easiest, most familiar and least demanding. It might be the internet, or tv, or ironing, or cleaning, shopping or the pub, everyone's escape is personal

Most people struggling with weight issues are more than aware of the damage that their poor food choices and lack of movement is doing, but they eat for comfort and often just to fill a space.  A space left by something that is missing, but that 'something' is impossible to identify.

Often this 'emptiness' comes from an in-balance in our lifestyle.

At the Find we try to get our guests to consider how they spend their time and work out if it is balanced and as productive as it can be for them

For ease we encourage them to divide their free time into 3 distinct categories; Sport, Slumber and Sparkle.

Sport doesn't mean sweating in the gym, it is anything that requires ANY movement that raises the pulse from its resting rate;  walking, climbing the stairs, cleaning, shopping, making love, dancing as well as all the usual forms of exercise.  

Slumber isn't just about sleeping, any thing restful and meditative falls into this sector; listening to music, surfing the net, watching tv, reading a book.  If it is restful and relaxing and lowering your blood pressure, it is slumber. 

Finally 'Sparkle', when you sparkle it is not about drinking champagne at one in the morning at Claridges or dancing on the tables at Tramp,'Sparkle' is any human contact whether with family or friends, in the bank or at a coffee shop.  It is simple, real, face to face interaction, with smiles, eye contact and conversation.

The balance that we need to strike with our spare time is dependent on our lifestyle. If you work as an aerobics teacher, the amount of time that you dedicate to sport and sparkle will be less than you need for slumber, but if you work alone on a computer in an office, to balance your life you will need to make a concerted effort to engage in sport and sparkle activities.

Everyone knows deep down what they are missing, but most of us gloss over the truth as life is so hectic.  Do you occasionally get a pang, a feeling of longing to get back in touch with old friends or family that you haven't seen for a while?  Do you need three or four cups of coffee to get up in the morning? Does your body feel exhausted and 'heavy' quite a lot of the time?

Look at what you HAVE to  do and how that enriches your life, then once you have worked out how much time you have left divide it into three categories above, prioritising the areas that are not fulfilled by what you have to do.  Then put activities that balance your life into your diary in black and white and stick to them.