Eat, Sleep, Work, Love, Play = Ahhh

25th June, 2009 - Posted by Maude -

What is the recipe for a happy, well nourished life?

Many people claim to have an answer to this question. Often those people write books, offer workshops and seminars, make CDs and DVDs and offer to sell you all manner of products. Some people come up with very complicated formulas or answers that require the purchasing of special products.

Here at Maude’s we believe the answer to this question is simple, free, and available to everyone at all times. There is no magic formula and nothing to buy. So why doesn’t everyone know it? Well, often people think they need to know something special or buy something. With that as a belief they find plenty of folks willing to come up with an answer and charge them for it. It’s not an efficient system but, hey, it keeps everyone busy and some people make a good living off the deal. In reality, the truth is usually simple, free, and can easily be found inside ourselves if we can listen.

So what’s the answer already?!

Five simple words - EAT, SLEEP, WORK, LOVE, PLAY.

Or if we want to get more complicated we could add two more words - DRINK, MOVE.

Where did Maude find this answer?

Beyond the obvious in every day life, Maude had a few friends pointing the way. Testing what they said against real life experience their words rang true. The first three words came from Catholic priest, Father Tom Weston. Maude is particularly fond of Tom. His suggestion to her was that in order for a person to feel healthy they need to work, love, and play.

Maude says Yes to Tom’s assertion. All people need to have something to do that is active and engaged in the world, something that makes them feel engaged and, hopefully, useful. It’s nice if that work is something we love as well as being productive. We all need to contribute to the whole of life and work is a way to do this. Of course, not all work is paid. We don’t need to be paid in order for work to be what we need. When we are working we are participating in the larger fabric of life at least in some small way. We are also supporting ourselves by doing this, whether we are paid or not.

We all know humans need love. Babies who do not have love will die. People who do not give and receive love may look better than their withered infant counterparts but they do not fare much better. For many people love does not come easily though. Modern media sometimes talks about little else. Every one seems to have trouble with this love thing. A simple rule of thumb is this - if you need some love, give some love. The less we think about how to get love the more likely we are to feel a lack. The caveat to this, of course, is the person who gives to excess and can’t receive. If we refuse to receive love it won’t matter how much we give, we’ll still feel empty. A cup with a lid on it can’t receive the water poured into it. Opening the heart can be scary but there is no other way. Maude’s advice on this is simple. “One year at the Oregon Country Fair there was a perfect message for us all, in a beautiful batik print hung across the path. It said ‘Vulnerability is the Perfect Protection.’ I agree. Trust yourself, Trust others, Embrace Vulnerabililty - and when you are hurt know that you also will heal.” We can be afraid to love or we can give it a try. The easier way is to try and learn from all the lessons that come. The more difficult, unbalanced way is to try to guard our hearts from caring. For a nourished life we definitely need love.

Play is often confused in America. Play does not need any special equipment of any special time. Play is an attitude and a moving towards life with a certain attitude. When we play we usually re-create things. Back when children used to play they would often experiment with the roles that adults took on. They “played” house or “played” cops and robbers. In the same way we can approach something as simple as a piece of string with a playful attitude and no expectations or time tables and engage the sense of play.

Re-creating can also be making something that goes into the world. Some people play by fixing cars. Some people play by cooking. Some play by sewing. If the activity feeds your soul in that playful way and you can ENJOY it, then it is your play. When you get done with the action if you have more energy (or hopefulness) than you did before you started, it’s a good chance you just played. There are probably as many ways to play as there are people in the world so you’ll just have to experiment to find out what gives you that sense of connecting and re-charging that play provides.

The other words that point towards a nourished life come from a simple piece of sage advice that’s been handed down through time. It may seem sophomoric but it really is true. It’s the acronym H.A.L.T. Don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. We live in physical bodies, like it or not. We all need to eat and sleep or we just can’t feel our best. When we eat foods that deplete us and skip meals it’s much harder to feel good. And it’s definitely not nourishing.

We’ve already talked in our previous post about the nourishing value of sleep. When we don’t get enough sleep - either through negligence, design, or illness - we can’t feel nourished.

Eating and sleeping regularly can actually solve a great many life problems and emotional upsets. Maude says, “If you feel upset about something, before you do anything else to solve it, try this - eat a peanut butter sandwich and take a nap! If it’s still a problem when you wake up then you can start working on it.”

Bonus Points

The physical body needs caring in the form of regular, adequate sleep and food. To function at its best it also needs to move, get exercise, and to be hydrated with water. Water and exercise or drink and move are the added boost we need to really feel happy and nourished. There are many opinions about what the right ways to move and drink. Here at Maude’s we say EXPERIMENT. LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BODY. You will find the right answer for you if you try.

One day we were visiting over at one of our favorite blogs and came across an interesting post by Steve Pavlina in a review of the book Life on Purpose. In this book the author recommends we get your needs met once and for all. That may be a radical notion worth pursuing.

What would it mean to get your needs met once and for all? It certainly doesn’t stop after you’ve done it once since both the physical body and the emotional heart need continuing nourishment to function.

Nourishment is an on-going process

The key thing to remember about these words is that they only create a nourished persona and a happy life when done on a regular (dependable) basis. This is not a quick fix. You can’t eat, sleep, work, love and play like crazy one day and take a break for a week.

Think of this like riding a surfboard, snowboard, or skiing. When you put all the elements together and move forward you achieve a balance that allows you to sail through life.

So drink your water - and your infusions, move your body - walk or run or do some stretching, eat - nourishing food at regular intervals, sleep - enough for your body to feel truly rested every night, work - actively engage in your life, love - open yourself to trusting yourself and others as best you can, and play - let go of expectations of life and immerse yourself in something recreational just for the sheer enjoyment of it. Really, you’ll be glad you did. When you do these things on a regular basis you really will start to feel that your needs are met. From there, a whole other life can unfold for you, a life of joy, a life of meaning.

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