jim's mindfulness blog

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Location: Osterville, Massachusetts, United States

I am a professor at Cape Cod Community College and and a member of a Buddhist order. After a 30-year career as a newspaper reporter and editor I became a full-time professor in 2001. I am the author of the textbooks "The Elements of News Writing" and "The Elements of Academic Writing." I enjoy running, hiking and camping. I have two grown sons and two grandchildren.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

#34 Nov. 22 Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. It is a beautiful day, sunny and almost 60 degrees. I went for a nice run. I seem to be running only once a week these days. I hope to do better than that. I am joining a colleague and her family for the Thanksgiving dinner. I am looking forward to that.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

#33 Skipped the run

This morning I decided to skip my morning run because the weather forecast said there was an 80 percent chance of rain. I didn't even get up to look out the window. I just slept in an extra hour. When I did get up it was a clear and pleasant morning. I checked the weather map on weather.com, and it showed a huge storm system bringing heavy rain to the entire Northeast, with the exception of Cape Cod, which just escaped the storm. IT looks like we will get it in an hour or so. Meanwhile I could have gone for a good run. It is too late now because I have a meeting at 9, but that was a lesson to be learned.

At 9 I am meeting my friend Mary from the church, who is going to tell me about the benefits of a vegan diet. I am seriously considering becoming a vegan. I think it will help in many ways.

Monday, November 05, 2007

#32 Another year older...

I have not been blogging on this blog lately, although I have been recording my diet and blood sugars on a special blog for that purpose http://jwkoncapebs.blogspot.com/.
Today I finally went for another run. I really want to run and meditate every day. Today I did it. good for me. Yesterday I led a day of mindfulness and spent the whole day at the church from 9 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. The mindfulness was good, but in the end I felt a little used, or perhaps used up. I am overwhelmed with too many things to do. Let's see what it nagging at me:
  • financial disclosure forms
  • page proofs for my book
  • writing contest entries
  • online class grading
  • regular class grading
  • clean up office
  • compile collected works
Peace, Jim, peace. All will unfold in due time. Breathe and smile. It will all be OK.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

#31 back on track

I think I am getting back on track.
I got up at 5:45, which is my daily goal, and I am going to go for a run before work. If I can keep up that routine, I should be fine.
Yesterday I had dinner with my good friend Steve, who is recovering from open-heart surgery. It would make a lot of sense for me to go for a run every day to keep in good shape and not have to fave a life-threatening crisis as he did.
I am a very lucky man to be in relatively good health as I am. I have good friends, a wonderful job and everything I need. Happiness is here and now.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

#30 not blogging

Well, I have been keeping a blog of my diet and blood sugar, but I have not been keeping up this mindfulness blog. I can't do it all! My foot was not broken, so I have no reason not to run, except lack of time. I hope to go for a run tomorrow.

Two weeks ago my best friend Steve suffered a heart attack and needed open heart surgery. Hie called and asked me to fill in giving the sermon at his church (He is a minister). It was a beautiful experience because I felt like I was divinely inspired. We all prayed for him, and he is making a miraculous recovery. Thank you, God!

Of course, it is unusual for a Buddhist to give a sermon in a Christian church, but my teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, says "All the great religions meet at the top." He is right!

Peace.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

#29 Mindful eating

I have not been able to run because of a pain in my left foot. I got an X-ray yesterday to see if it is a stress fracture.
On the other hand (or foot), I have been very careful about my diet lately, and I have been checking my blood sugar four times a day, so I hope to get that under good control and lose some weight too. I am trying to be very mindful of what I eat.
It seems that I can get a few areas of my life under control at a time, but others slip away. I guess that is the human condition.

Monday, August 27, 2007

#28 Mindful of my feet

My left foot is still sore. I think it might be a stress fracture, so I have not done any more running since the Falmouth Road Race on Aug. 12.

But I have started being very mindful of my glucose levels and carbohydrate intake. That is good for me too. I will try to check my blood sugar two hours after each meal to get that under control.

Today I have a meeting of our NCBI chapter -- the National Coalition Building Institute. Although I should be working on my book or class preparation, NCHI is important work too.
http://www.ncbi.org/home/index.cfm

May peace be within us all.