Today, Friday 30th January 2009, I walked my usual route soon after noon.

I met up with the postman again in Berens Way. He commented on the shapelessness of my woolly hat!

I should have answered immediately with a line from Burns’ great poem:

“A man’s a man for a’ that!”

Burns pointed out in one of his greatest poems that it is not the clothes that make the man. One verse goes:

“What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an’ a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man’s a Man for a’ that:
For a’ that, and a’ that,
Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that;
The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men for a’ that.”

An honest man does not need to be finely dressed.

He can be a king among men whatever he wears.

I got up at 3 a.m., today 13th Jan 2009, and returned to bed at 6 a.m. depressed by the fact that one of my hard drives had disconnected itself and could not be reconnected. It is loaded with valuable products which may be lost for good.

Later than usual and still somewhat depressed I set off on my usual walk. I met the postman who remarked that I was late. I explained the events of the morning.

He tried to cheer me up by saying that the sun was about to come out. “I prefer the cold” I said.

“Well, there’s no pleasing you!” he commented.

Of course, he was right. I had only lost part of my computer and that part might be reconnected without loss with the aid of a skilful computer technician. Nobody had died and I am confident there will be some more cold weather before winter is over.

It is a self-improvement cliche that we should count our blessings but we still forget to do so. I certainly have many to count and I expect you have too.

I am fortunate to be able to see a computer unlike many blind people who can’t. I can also walk outside and enjoy the cold air unlike many who are housebound and can’t.

Next time you can’t be pleased, start counting your blessings and I don’t care if that comment is a cliche. It is still worth repeating!

It is well worth counting one’s blessings every day. Dr Williams suggests some other daily activities worth doing:

Get outside for ten minutes of sunshine a day to generate vitamin D.

Lack of Vitamin D has to 22 different forms of cancer, as well as multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, flu, depression, and heart disease.

Simply stepping outside for some sun is a great way to enrich your vitamin D supply naturally and boost your immune system.

However, the sun in northern latitudes maybe too weak to generate enough vitamin D especially between October and March. So it is advisable to take a daily dose of a Vitamin D supplement.

Eat an apple a day. Apples contain super-antioxidant compounds and are an excellent source of fiber, which promotes more regular bowel movements and helps remove toxins and waste mate­rial from the body.

Dr Williams suggests: “Stretch several times a day. Simply ‘reach for the sky’ by standing as tall and as straight as you possibly can and pushing your shoulders back as far as they will go. Then put every joint in your body through its total range of motion. It’s a great way to stay limber.”

The doctor also gives some great advice about sneaking in some exercise during the day. For example, tighten your tummy muscles when the chance occurs.

One of my martial arts students suggests tightening the muscles around your knee joints when you are standing anywhere. This can help prevent or improve knee problems.

When you go shopping, park at the far end of the parking lot and walk to the store entrance. Then once you’re in the store, go up and down all the aisles. Every step you take will add up to better health.

Many ‘other sneaky exercises’ are available which I will describe in future blogs.

Today, Monday 12th January 2009, I heard on TV that 9 out of 10 people have failed to keep their New Year’s Resolutions by January 21st.

This is cheering news for people who have already failed to keep their resolutions. They will not be alone for long. Some people even fail after one day.

However, today I kept my current yearly resolution, of going for a daily walk, by heading out into a cold wind before noon. All the frost and snow from a week ago had now disappeared but the wind made the walk as cold as before. A slight drizzle came down which made an umbrella advisable in case the drizzle turned into a shower.

When I returned I kept another ongoing resolution by doing some weight lifting and nunchaku practice in my gym. However, before I sound too smug, I regularly fail to keep other resolutions and I don’t always keep the two mentioned above.

Why do people fail to keep their resolutions? One answer is that they are too lazy to carry them out. One or two jokes stress the laziness in most humans and they are not too far off the truth.

In one story, two men are sitting in the sun discussing their lack of money. One of them says: “I have heard that diamonds have been discovered in the Australian Outback. They lie on the open ground. All you have to do is bend down and pick them up.”

The other replied: “Bend down?!”

In another story, a man and his wife are in their sitting room.
They hear the sound of a funeral band going past their house.

The man says: “I heard that today’s funeral is going to give a great send off to the best man at our wedding.”

“Yes!” said his wife, “It’s a pity we are facing the wrong way!”

The above laziness is not that uncommon. Some people, including me, fail to open the packages they are sent. They are left untouched on their shelves until they are out of date or the owner dies and they are thrown out by their descendants!

However, the chances are they will have been too lazy to have any descendants!