Improve yourself, always

13. Hillel used to say: He who aggrandizes his name, loses his name. He who does not increase his knowledge, decreases it. He who learns not, forfeits his life. He who makes unworthy use of the crown (of the Torah) shall pass away.



I should be sleeping, but I am not quite rested yet. My brain works at a rapid clip and turning it off when I am processing things is a bit of a task. Something that people speak about is personal growth.

All too often we pay lip service to this and spend little time considering what this means and what is necessary to affect change.

At the moment I am not interested in lecturing about why you should improve yourself. Only a fool sees themself as a finished product that needs no polish.

Here are three areas that I am working on:

1) My diet- I need to work on my health. I am not unhealthy, my doctor has given me good marks, but I am at a place in which I can see the future. And the future I see has a few age related issues. I need to drop a few pounds and work on tightening the screws so that I can continue to do the physical activities I engage in now without any restrictions.

2) Finish strong- In some areas I take shortcuts. I need to work on finishing with as much force and effort as I put into it.

3) Education- This is a constant. I never want to stop learning, there is so much to know and not enough time to learn. My children humble me with the vast amounts of information they process. When do we lose this skill. When do we lose the ability to work through it so quickly.

There are other things that I can work on, but this is it for now. I am an intense person. I feel a little strange typing it, but it is true. I have been described by many who know me as having an intensity that can suck the life right out of you.

Not much of a compliment, but it is part of who I am. And in the end I define myself, it is for me to do so and no one else.

More on this in my final post of the evening.

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6 Comments

  1. Jack's Shack November 9, 2004 at 3:58 pm

    HG,

    All that exercise is just so good for you. I always notice when I haven’t been doing it.

  2. Jack's Shack November 9, 2004 at 3:56 pm

    Hi Robyn,

    Thank you for the offer, I am going to think about it. I don’t want to commit unless I can give it the attention it deserves.

  3. Robyn November 9, 2004 at 3:22 pm

    Heya Jack,

    There’s book I have that is inspiring a new blog I think. It is called “The Book of Self Aquaintance”. If you might be interested in participation in this little project let me know. I would be happy share the details.

    Love and Light

  4. Stacey November 9, 2004 at 2:30 pm

    I liken myself to a work-in-progress. There is always room for improvement and ways to better ourselves.

  5. HasidicG November 9, 2004 at 11:03 am

    I was also thinking alot about my health and wanted to do some sort of fitness, but I kept thinking I’m so out of energy as it is how will I be able to add to my daily routine and not get burnt out, but I now work out four times a week and have found I have loads more energy, sleep better, and my mood and outlook have more than improved. Exercise=more energy = able to learn, do more!

  6. Anonymous November 9, 2004 at 9:39 am

    Hey! If you go on a diet, who’s gonna keep me safe from junk food???

    ~treppenwitz~

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