Steve and Gandhi

My father recently handed me a transcript of Steve Jobs' 2005 commencement speech at Stanford. You may read it here or watch a video of it here.

These are some of the most powerful words I have ever read -

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Then today I received my "Motivational Quote of the Day" from Nightingale-Conant and it was one of Gandhi's -

"Live as if you were going to die tomorrow."

And here's a great tune from Tim McGraw called "Live Like You Were Dying" -



Yeah, a little heavy today. Poop is a funny word. That lightened things up a bit. Hee hee, poop.

Dog Whisperer

I found this piece on dog training very interesting. I love my dog, but have trouble controlling him. I think the dog whisperer has some good tips. Click here for the article.

It's a Start

This is a great article from the Washington Post. A study of 21,000 doctors over a period of 20 years has revealed that even minimal "vigorous" exercise (1-3 times/month!) makes heart disease less likely (18%). The study's results also find that being a little bit overweight (BMI of 25-29.9) makes one significantly more likely to develop heart disease (49% more likely).

So, the point is that, even if you think you don't have time to exercise, or you hate exercising, or you think there's no hope, even a slight change in your behavior can yield you health benefits.

Getting Your Zs

A new study points to the importance of getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night. If you get less, you could be increasing your risk of heart disease -

"On average, those in the study got about six hours of sleep a night.

"However, only 6 percent of those who got at least seven hours of sleep had calcification, compared with 11 percent who got five to seven hours and 27 percent who got less than five hours, said the senior author, Diane Lauderdale, an associate professor of health studies at the University of Chicago.

"The study took into account other known risk factors for heart disease, including sleep apnea, cholesterol, blood pressure, body weight, diabetes and depression.

"In fact, getting an extra hour of sleep had the same effect on heart disease risk as lowering one's systolic blood pressure (the upper reading) by 16.5 points"