I read this post on Zen Habits the other day and it really struck a chord with me. If you don’t have time to read it the post is basically about quashing our urge to constantly “improve” ourselves.

One of the driving forces of my life for many years was the need to improve myself. It’s one of the driving forces for people who read my work as well.

It’s an incredibly pervasive urge: we are always trying to improve, and if we’re not, that’s something we should improve.

It’s everywhere. Where does this urge come from? It’s embedded in our culture — in the U.S. from Benjamin Franklin to the early entrepreneurial titans, everyone is trying to better themselves. It goes deeper, to ancient Western ideals of the perfect well-rounded person. But it flourished in the 20th century, from Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill to Stephen Covey. And now it’s in full bloom, with blogs. And yes, I’m part of this movement.

So what’s the problem? You could say it’s great that people are constantly trying to improve themselves, but where does it end? When is anyone ever content with who they are? We are taught that we are not good enough yet, that we must improve, and so … we always feel a little inadequate.

…

What if instead, we learned to be happy with ourselves?

What would happen?

That last paragraph and two lines from further on in the post, which I’ve bolded, is the one that really struck a chord with me. When does it end? When are we good enough?

Don’t get me wrong, I am all about goal setting and would not be where I am in my life right now if I hadn’t set some lofty goals for myself. Especially when it came to my career and running. But I also feel like now-a-days, especially around this time of year, all anyone can think about is how they want to improve or change. This falls into the “I’ll be happier when…” way of thinking for me.

I’ll be happier when I lose 10 pounds.

I’ll be happier when I move.

I’ll be happier when I have a new job.

I’ll be happier when I’m done university.

I’ll be happier when I have a partner.

I’m not trying to be hypocritical because I will admit to having these “I’ll be happier when…” thoughts a lot. I’ve set goals and New Years resolutions on a regular basis. Some I’ve achieved and some I haven’t. However, in the last couple of years I’ve started to really settle into where my life is right now. I’ve started trying to find joy and contentment in the every day, in what I have and who I am RIGHT NOW.

I think the urge to self-improve is good. Great even. But I think our society has taken it too far. I think that if we continue to get so caught up in this urge to be better one day we will be 90 years old, on our deathbed, and look around and wonder where our life has gone. Heck, we’ll probably wonder that regardless because life is so fleeting.

Keeping with the idea of being happy with who I am right now this year I am not setting New Years resolutions nor am I writing out a list of changes I want to make in 2012. I am just going to live my life as I am right now and as who I am right now. I will do exciting, fun and wonderful things in 2012 but because I want to and because they make me happy not because I have to “improve” who I am.

***

Questions of the day: What do you think of this urge to self-improve constantly? Have you encountered it in your own life? Do you think it’s a good thing to constantly be trying to improve oneself and set goals or do you think it’s become too much?

I have been going to the chiropractor fairly regularly for almost a year now and have had a great experience. I attribute my regular visits to the fact that I’m yet to have a serious running injury in 2011 when I had several in 2010.

A lot of people (Eric included) have scoffed a bit when I talk about how much of a believer I am in the chiropractor now. I thought I’d shed some light on how my chiropractor helped me with my particular problem and why I’ve continued going to her since.

{source}

She looked at the whole picture

I explain it in more detail in this post but basically when I hurt my foot running my marathon in October 2010 the doctor sent me for an x-ray and then brushed me off. I spent maybe five minutes in his office and was simply told “don’t run until it doesn’t hurt anymore”.

The physiotherapist was a lot more helpful but just chalked it up to being a torn tendon and gave me some exercises to do. It wasn’t until I went to the chiropractor – and spent over an hour talking through my running history/pain history – that she shed light on how a seized muscle/joint in my back ultimately caused the torn tendon in my foot. Read the full story here.

She believes in preventative care

I went to see her approximately every 8-9 weeks throughout 2010 because my mileage wasn’t super high and I did a lot of cross-training this year between my yoga challenge and triathlon training. I will probably go see her ever 4-6 weeks at a minimum when I’m training for my next marathon.

With my chiropractor it’s not about going AFTER I’m injured, it’s about going right when I feel any kind of tweak or “off” before an injury even has a chance to form. We do the necessary adjustments and loosening of my muscles to prevent it from forming at all.

{source}

She doesn’t crack my neck

I’m not saying that getting your neck cracked is bad, I just think a lot of people associate chiropractors with neck cracking and in over a year I’ve never once had that happen. I mostly get ART (Active Release Therapy – above is an example of something she actually does with me!)

In a nutshell, it involves her digging her thumbs and elbows into areas of my body that are tight and either holding them there or having me move my body into the pressure. It does wonders for loosening up my very tight muscles. She also regularly does lower back, hip and ankle adjustments on me (which does involve some jerking and cracking) and occasionally will crack my upper back when I’m really tight.

I feel the effects of the treatment immediately

When I first walk into her office she has me do a bunch of movements like bending over to touch my toes, bending side to side, rotating at the waist etc. She then does all my adjustments and ART on my tight spots and has me do those same movements again. I always feel looser, lighter and more flexible afterwards. If I’m having shin pain and I go in for some ART on my calves I can feel the difference when I go running again, even if it’s a day or two later!

***

I am obviously not a medical professional or anything even remotely close to one, I am just telling you what works for me in this post! I feel like going to the chiropractor has a bad rap and I wanted to clear up why *I* go regularly and why I think it works for my body and lifestyle.Not trying to push it on anyone else and you should always consult with your regular medical professional first!

***

Question of the day: Have you ever gone to the chiropractor? What are your thoughts on this (somewhat controversial) form of alternative medicine?

I’ve noticed a lot of negativity floating around the blogosphere lately. I knew that some of the “bigger bloggers” had a lot of trolls on their site but I feel like I’m seeing more of this in comment sections than ever before and I’ve recently stumbled upon some websites completely devoted to insulting and poking fun at bloggers - in really, really hurtful ways. 

After reading this post yesterday on Katy Widrick I wrote today’s blog post on a whim. More and more often lately I read through the comments of some blogs with my jaw on my desk thinking: Don’t these commenters realize this blogger is a real person? With real feelings? A person who makes mistakes just like everyone else in the world? A HUMAN? 

I feel really lucky to be surrounded by an amazing group of blog readers who have never left me any hurtful comments. I’ve gotten some very blunt and – in some ways – harsh comments, but most of the time in the form of constructive criticism. I’ve never gotten a “you should really lose some weight” or “your pretty stupid aren’t you?” kind of comment and for that I’m very thankful because I do not have the thickest of skins.

But, really, why is it even necessary to leave some of these comments in the first place – even the harsh or blunt ones? I truly believe that some people are too blunt for their own good. I’m sorry, I don’t respect people at all if they’re all “I say what I’m thinking” and then the comments that come out of their mouths are actually hurtful and spiteful. There is always a nice way to word something so instead of just saying the first thing that comes to mind take a minute to think about how your words might affect the person you are telling them too or the blogger whose blog you are commenting on.

Honestly, if a blog post offends you so much that all you can think of to say is something spiteful or hurtful, maybe you should utilize that red X in the top right corner of your browser window. And maybe you shouldn’t be reading that blog in the first place.

Does that mean I’ve never read a post I disagree with? No, of course not! I have read lots of posts I disagree with and even left comments on them. But I honestly ALWAYS try to leave a positive comment and like to think of things in terms of constructive criticism rather than just plain old criticism. In my opinion, these negative comments are bullying at it’s finest. Isn’t bullying something we’re trying to do away with across North America? If adults are still bullying each other how can we ever expect the next generation to stop?

***

A few questions to get you thinking:

What is up with the negativity in the comments sections of some blogs lately? Have you ever received a negative or hurtful comment? Do you have a thick skin about those kinds of things? Do you try and leave constructive criticism on blogs you don’t agree with or do you just stop reading?