Wise Selfishness

It turns out the doctor was right about the Exercise referral after all, you do need a letter which you take to the gym. I found this out after the leisure department told me they would send me a form and didn’t. I will have to get this sorted out soon as it is starting to get a bit cold for cycling. I have been out running a bit and I’m still fitting in a few days hill walking. I had a beautiful day climbing Beinn A’Ghlo last week.

I’ve also been looking into other things to brighten up the coming autumn.

The Dalai Lama advised people to practise ‘wise selfishness’. The theory being that it is good to do what benefits others and, as doing good deeds makes you feel better it benefits the donor as well as the recipients.

I’ve been looking into volunteering. I have done various things in the past, mostly youth work, but since I started working I haven’t had as much time or energy. However, recently I’ve been getting a lot more done so I thought it might be time to do something positive.

I chose a few things from the Volunteer Scotland site. You can pick areas of interest and it comes up with a list of possibilities for you to contact. Ideally, I’m looking for something outdoors and possibly occasional or else in an evening, as I can’t really commit during the daytime because of commuting. There appear to be some projects where a day’s work will not only help them out but I’ll also get some exercise out of it too, so fingers crossed we’ll be able to come to mutually beneficial arrangement.

There are other things that need not take up that much time, but which are still worthwhile, for example giving blood, which I can do again now I’m not on medication.

I have also helped to save 4620 square feet of rainforest in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve; as well as land in places as far flung as the Palmyra Atoll, Patagonia, Canada, and South America; provided 215 cups of food to feed chimps, food for animal rescue sites and helped to fund books for children in need and to fund free mammograms. All this without leaving my desk, which is just as well, I don’t even know where Patagonia is.

It’s all done through visiting websites, such as the Hungersite and redjellyfish, where you can click every day in order to make small donations to charity. Seeing as I work on the internet every day and it only takes about a minute to click, I’ve been clicking on some of these for years.

Week commencing 02/10/06

Medication: 2mg of Valium (I’d never have got through the Scotland game without it)
Exercise: 9 hrs
Alcohol: 25 units- this is way too much! Decided to go tee-total for a bit.
Anxiety: Pretty calm (apart from the football)
Anxiety Level (0-10): 0
Number of Panic Attacks: 0
Severity of Panic Attack (0-5): NA
Depression: I’m feeling fine.
Depression Level (0-5): 0
Mania: Can’t complain about being up either.
Mania Level (0-5): 0.5

Summary

All in all a pretty good couple of weeks. I’m feeling fairly calm and yet productive. Had far too much to drink last week due to a few big nights (and days) out. I’ve decided to give the boozing a miss for a bit. I’m still not sleeping very well, so I’ve taken to having lunchtime naps again. Not drinking will probably help settle my sleeping pattern.

Have you become involved in volunteering? How did the experience help you and others?
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