We bring on guest writers every now and then, the following is one of these articles. Have something similar you'd like to share? Shoot us a line.
I hear people bang on all the time about “self-care” being important, and emphasise how critical it can be to your mental well being to splurge on fast food or blow money on a set of candles and a bath-bomb. Cool, so you feel better for that half an hour whilst you soak away and forget that your problems exist- but when you get out and dry off, guess what? That problem is still there, you’re down a half an hour and you’re no closer to fixing said problem or any of the other myriad issues that chase at the corners of your mind.
I agree that looking after yourself is important- however I posit a different kind of self care: Get to fucking work. By this, I don’t mean your job- I mean on you. I mean the shit that you know you need to do but don’t. Been meaning to get into shape (or step things up a notch)? To keep your home cleaner? To get back in touch with someone? Do it now. Seriously. As in put your damn phone down and do it right now. Do the dishes. Go make your bed. Pay the bill. Do a set of push ups. Call your mum. Whatever the hell it is- do it immediately. It doesn’t matter that it’s late or early or raining. It doesn’t matter that you're tired. Or that you’re sad.
Ultimately your excuses are bullshit, or at the very least- meaningless. They’re lies that you tell yourself to make yourself feel better whilst you blow off the thing you know you should be doing for the easier, more comfortable option. Deep down, you know when you’re doing it, too. A well crafted reasoning, polished to a perfect shine that you use to console yourself and stave off the well deserved guilt of a responsibility shirked.
You don’t have to do the whole thing now; but make a start at least. It can be the smallest of steps- a tiny thing that you could do right now, that you would do right now. I guarantee you’ll feel a little better. You might not have the same pampered glow of someone who just spent 45 minutes soaking in coloured bubble soap, but you’ll have moved yourself forward in a productive direction and actively improved your life- even if only by the smallest of margins… which is a significant step up than going nowhere; or worse- backward.
Nothing brings satisfaction like a hard job done well. Do the thing you were going to do tomorrow today- because when we put things off to tomorrow, we may as well just be honest and swap the word “tomorrow” for “never”.
Tom “Thorin” Black
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About the author:
Tom enjoys long walks on the beach, waking up early and getting the fuck after it. Believes wholeheartedly that comfort is indeed a slow death. After doing his time in the RAINF, he hung up his beret and ventured out- working security in the private sector for a period before transitioning into law enforcement. Also likes dogs.
You can find him @Thorin.Black on all the social medias trying to avoid getting sucked into arguing with idiots on the internet.
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If you’ve been following this page for a while, you’re probably no stranger to our outspoken views on the preservation of memorials, commemorations and our shrines. There is a reason we rage against the abject politicisation of these things.
We will always speak our truth, especially if this goes against the grain of the popular narrative. This is our why.
Who is he and why are we talking about him?
For a long time, he held the highest ever recorded VO2max. Let's dig in.
Eero Mäntyranta was a Finnish cross-country skier who won seven Olympic medals, including three gold medals, in the 1960s. Mäntyranta's success in skiing was attributed to his exceptionally high VO2max, measured at a staggering 96 ml/kg/min.