My recent reset of my workouts that was precipitated by my hernia surgery had me thinking more about dread. There were a few exercises I had been doing for years that I actually loathed doing. I would dreadticipate them before I got to them. I would breathe a sigh of relief when I had completed them.
Today when I worked out, I realized how I’ve had a little burst of joy every day this week from not doing those exercises. It made my workouts go quicker and made me feel physically and mentally better.
So I started thinking about the other things have I eliminated from my life that caused dreadticipation and more importantly, are there others I need to eliminate?
Food – I’ve dialed in my carnivore diet. I’ve identified and eliminated every food that caused me problems. It seems so strange to me now that I spent most of life eating things that caused me issues like:
- Pepperoni – Always gave me heartburn and yet I ate in on pizza and calzones until I was in my 30s.
- Beans and Chili – Gas, heartburn, flautlence, stomach pain.
- Garlic – Nightmares, fitful sleep, horrible breath into the next day, headaches.
- Onions – See garlic.
- Sugar – Heart palpitations, sugar highs and lows, disrupted sleep
People – My wife and I lived a small, quiet life. Neither of us maintained relationships with people who gave us grief. This spanned coworkers, neighbors, family and friends. People are fallible, so I don’t maintain a zero tolerance policy here. I believe most people deserve a chance to make mistakes and to clear them up. However, when they continue to wrong me, I will avoid them and eventually cut them out of my life.
Books, Movies and TV – Until I was in my 40s, I would read and watch anything. News, sitcoms, horror flicks, mysteries, crime shows etc. Then I started to realize that whenever I watched anything that had gore or torture, that it would imprint into my mind and I’d have dreams about it – sometimes for years.
So I no longer consume anything that depicts torture, gratuitous violence, rape, gore or horror. I still have a lifetime of the stuff in my head from before so there’s plenty to fill my nightmares already.
Dating – I gave up the dating game. Just thinking about it filled my head with too much anxiety, questions and concerns. Would I date someone? Maybe. But I’m not willing to actively pursue dating. Thinking about it doesn’t make me feel good. (December 2021 note: this has changed.)
Neighbors – Recently, I gave up on trying to build a friendship with one of my neighbors. There’s another neighbor who has also shown zero interest or reciprocation to any of my overtures so I no longer even wave to them anymore. I’m not a misanthrope. If people go out of there way to avoid acknowledging me, I’ll eventually get the message.
Social Media – I don’t participate. It makes me crazy, envious and agitated.
Is there anything else I should eliminate?
I really can’t think of anything else in my life that causes me misery that needs to be eliminated. For me, it is good practice to review my life periodically because I have a tendency to fall into a routine and then mindlessly follow it.
Of course there are activities and situations that agitate me. Some of these I cannot or will not eliminate because the benefits I receive outweigh the downsides. Others I have no choice (or limited choice).
Examples would include taxes, traffic, pool closures, and Covid-19.
But, I do what I can to mitigate any negative impacts and then accept and move on. Eventually.