#consciousdecisions

Driven by trends and popular opinion, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that what's widely accepted must be right for everyone. Whether it's fashion, lifestyle choices, or career paths, societal pressures often dictate norms that can overshadow individual preferences and values. However, the essence of true living lies in making conscious decisions that align with our own beliefs and aspirations, rather than conforming to external expectations.

The Allure of Popular Opinion

Trends emerge for various reasons—innovation, convenience, or simply a shift in collective taste. What starts as a niche idea can quickly snowball into a global phenomenon, amplified by social media and digital connectivity. Take, for instance, the rise of minimalist living or the influencers on consumer behaviour. These trends can be compelling, offering a sense of belonging and relevance in a rapidly changing world.

Questioning the Status Quo

Yet, amidst the allure of trends, there lies a critical need for introspection. Just because an idea gains traction doesn't mean it resonates with everyone's values or circumstances. For instance, the minimalist lifestyle might advocate for decluttering and simplicity, which can be liberating for some but restrictive for others who find joy in collections or diverse interests.

Similarly, career paths often come with societal expectations—doctors, lawyers, engineers are esteemed professions—but they may not fulfill everyone's passions or talents. It's vital to question whether these choices align with our own aspirations rather than succumbing to societal pressure.

Making Conscious Choices

Conscious decision-making involves a deliberate evaluation of our values, desires, and circumstances. It requires us to tune into our inner voice rather than blindly following external cues. Here are a few principles to guide us in making conscious decisions:

Self-awareness: Understanding our strengths, weaknesses, passions, and values forms the foundation of conscious decision-making. This self-awareness helps us discern what truly matters to us.

Critical thinking: Evaluate the pros and cons of any decision, considering how it aligns with your long-term goals and personal values. Don't just follow the crowd—question the reasoning behind popular trends.

Resilience: Be prepared to go against the grain if necessary. Embracing individuality often means facing resistance or criticism, but staying true to yourself yields greater fulfillment in the long run.

Flexibility: Recognize that preferences and circumstances evolve over time. What aligns with your values today might change in the future, and that's perfectly okay.

Celebrating Diversity

The beauty of conscious decision-making lies in its celebration of diversity. When individuals embrace their unique preferences and values, it enriches our collective tapestry of ideas and perspectives. Society thrives not from uniformity but from the mosaic of individual contributions.

The world is changed, we are changed. But we have freewill to choose to do things differently. We have freewill to deal with our experiences, so we can understand our experiences with a little more ease.

Freewill can be a challenge. Not everyone will have freewill to make their choices at a time when they would choose to make those choices. But in the pursuit of being able to make your own decisions through your own personal interests, you have freewill to change certain things.

We have freewill to want to do and be better. To a certain degree, we also have freewill to want to change certain aspects of our personalities if something we’re doing isn’t working for us.

We have freewill to read a book, to want to give back, we have freewill to choose who we keep in our lives, in the same way we have freewill to walk away from situations that hurt us. We also have freewill to change our beliefs and to change how we perceive our lives.

Conclusion

We do have freewill to change things in our life. If we don’t like our job we have freewill to look for another job. If we’re struggling in our relationships, we have freewill to do something about changing our relationship.

Where something is fated, pre-determined, decreed, marked by fate, or controlled, we don’t have freewill on those. Whatever we have freewill on it is important to make choices, we don’t later go on to regret.

Eat candy, drink alcohol, sleep less and let recovery be something that others do. Our body can cope with not always good ways of living. The essentials here is that you show self sympathy, take conscious decisions and be thoughtful in choices. Per, Strength stairs This post is a reminder that our body can handle more than you think in terms of less good choices. The important thing is to know what consequences candy, alcohol, reduced sleep and non-recovery can give and then take responsibility of it. Here is what research and broad experience tells us.

Candy can not hurt, right?

Yes, it does. If it is sweets where sugar is a major constituent (on the table of contents, then, if sugar comes early in the ingredient list and you look at the nutrition declaration, "Of which sugar" is a big part of the section Carbohydrates) then there are some risks such as a low-grade inflammation can start in the body and make you more susceptible to disease (no clear support in research although some studies point to it)Over time you can get diabetesThe function of the skin is impaired with the result that the skin can become wrinkled and softer. Excessive sugar intake can also affect collagen production and this makes wrinkles even more visible. If you look at the diagram below, described in more detail in the post Nutrition and energetic, you see how much of the daily need for energy should come from different nutrients, where the recommended ceiling for sugar is 10% (which in itself can be high for certain conditions) Is it possible to reduce the risks somewhat with physical activity? Then the sugar is used in the metabolism and the storage drops instead of going up. So, eat sweets, move around and keep in mind that it takes about an hour's walk or 30 minutes in the running tracks to burn 50 grams of candy (obviously depends on the type of candy and the intensity of the activity, so you can see it as a rule of thumb). Notice that I write reduces the risks of physical activity. Is there really nothing positive about sweets? Well, in moderation, for example, chocolate of the darker kind can have a certain health effect with reduced risk of stroke and heart attack as there are both antioxidants (flavanols in this case are believed to be useful) and minerals (magnesium for example). Moderate amount based on research is 2-3 squares per day and at least 70% cocoa, otherwise there will be lower health effect and a lot of sugar in chocolate. One needs to look at the whole. Of course, it should be as closely produced as possible and from organic farms for the best benefit in sustainable health. If you need fast energy during or just after a workout, a smaller piece of candy can be good for filling energy stores, although a banana and a glass of milk is preferable.

A glass of wine or a whiskey is good for everything, or?

If you look at older people, over 70, there may be some health benefits with a glass (1.5-2 decilitres) of wine and if you are under 70 there are no major health effects. The risks of alcohol are both mental and physical Blood pressure and heart rate goes upThe liver may work more with detoxification thanPhysical performance declinesAssessment, memory and responsiveness deteriorate

A little sleep no one has died of?

Yes, you can die from too little sleep although what I mean is that a little less sleep than you really need over a longer period of time to put it a little to health. Examples of consequences are You can get a bigger sweet tooth if you get too little sleepYou can worsen memory functionThe risk of Alzheimer's increases Important to make sure you get proper sleep over time. Periodically, it is normal to have somewhat disturbed sleep. How can I improve sleep? In summary, you can say that sleep habits should be given priority, go to bed and get up at the same time, make sure to get daily physical activity and decrease screen time a few hours before bedtime. You can read more on our Sleep page.

Missing recovery works for me!

Yes, you may feel that way. Remember that sleep becomes extra important if your breaks and recoveries fail during the work or study day. The same applies if you choose to exclude recovery such as stretching, nerve inheritance of various kinds, mindfulness or meditation exercises. The risks of missing out recovery are The stress levels during the day escalate instead of periodically returning back to normal levels with breaks, which in turn can start to affect sleep for the worse.Lactate and other residual products remain longer in the body after physical activity and prevent the body from functioning optimally.

Summary

Is this yet another post to scare people? Nope, this is a post to emphasize and spread the the facts we have today, thanks to researchers and scientists. It is all up to you as an adult to take the decision that works for you. One glass of wine a day is good for blood pressure, right? Well, there are things in wine that are good for you and then there is alcohol which always is less good for your body and blood pressure so if you can find a wine free of alcohol then the answer is yes. My doctor says it is good with a little whiskey every day for my blood vessels, who should I trust? There are many answers to that question and mine is that you get to look at the facts that exist today and make a decision that makes you feel good. Whiskey causes the blood vessels to expand in some cases so it may feel a little better for a while, and the alcohol damages the body in that it is a lot of energy and the liver has to work with poison. I am young and strong, so it can not hurt with too little sleep? Periodically we can manage with less sleep, the important thing is that you get enough sleep over time so you get important recovery Should I quit my candy intake entirely, is that what you are saying? No, you should be conscious about the fact that the less you eat the better your body will feel. Candy on Saturdays is perhaps a good start? I walk to and from exercise, that could be accounted for recovery? Yes.

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