Gregory Paul Johnson > Journal
Summary. In my personal update last month I shared that “my greatest challenge over the past six months has been with weight gain and accelerated aging. In six months of living the average American lifestyle, I’ve gained about 40 pounds and aged about 30 years.” By mid-June I had gained 40 pounds and measured at 50 years old for metabolic age. This is described in more under the Health section below. High resolution photos of Devonian fossils near the Coralville spillway are now available online. These photos were taken a few days before the 2008 flood made the area inaccessible. For my Gregory Cam Live Feed of photos, I recently exceeded the photo gallery limit of Picasaweb. So, I’m now creating monthly archives instead. <> It’s now possible to easily view all personal updates in the documents library.
- Lifeways. My philosophy and “religious practice” continues to be defined as Adonaikido which I also refer to as “Applied Judaism” since it is based upon Tikkun Olam (repairing the world); a foundational teaching and goal of Judaism. Today I updated all of the Adonaikido resource pages. I often ask people, “I don’t want to know what you believe. I want to know how do you live because of what you believe.” My daily practice begins with yoga (stretching), a quiet meditation, exercise, and then expanding in the other areas of life described below. Following the Schedule for Life is at the core of my belief system and practice.
- Health. As mentioned in the introduction above, I gained about 40 pounds between January and mid-June. I’ve written an article about the dangers of the American Lifestyle which explains more about my experience over the past 6 months. I’ve also created a resource page about sleep deprivation and how even cumulative sleep deprivation can contribute to weight gain and a host of other illnesses. You’ll be encouraged to know that I’ve lost 5 pounds over the past week by returning more diligently to following the Schedule for Life and the Holistic Living System.
- Career. I’m thankful that my work at the University of Iowa is going well and my consulting business continues to be busy.
- Finance. My financial situation is stable right now. I continue to look for ways to decrease my regular expenses and increase my income.
- Relationships. Makur has returned to India where she needs to fulfill a 2-year (cumulative) home residency requirement. We are both adjusting to being apart and plan to be in touch regularly through e-mail and video calls. I continue to be grateful for the relationships I have with family, friends, colleagues, and clients.
- Activism. After years of work, my book, Put Your Life on a Diet, is now on bookshelves and I am starting to receive positive emails from people who have read the book. I believe that responding to these emails and also the media inquiries that are coming in will be an excellent method of outreach. I continue investing time in upgrading the Resources for Life.com website which is reaching hundreds of people from all over the world every day. In the future, other than consulting, I see my greatest positive impact and most effective use of my time being through the website.
- Effective Living. I’ve been deepening my understanding and practice of effectiveness principles, tools, and techniques. The website conversion is part of this effort. I have a renewed commitment to the Schedule for Life and the Holistic Living System which help to provide maximum effectiveness and efficiency.
Many thanks to all of you who are continuing to keep me in your thoughts, prayers, and meditation time. ~ Gregory
About the Personal Update
For about seven years, the first and most important communication I would send out each month would be a personal update covering seven areas of life described on the Map Page of the Resources for Life.com website. I reference this monthly practice in my Schedule for Life. Over the years, my personal updates went out each month to about 10 family members and friends who I consider to be my “advisory board.” A group of people with several hundred years of collective wisdom. As well as looking for feedback and guidance, I also saw these updates as a way of making a regular personal life assessment. As of September 2007, I began putting these monthly updates here in my online Journal. The seven areas of my personal life have solidified in recent years, so there’s not much “news” to report, but as there is, I’ll report it here in these updates. Additional writings are available through my online journal and other writings.