The Magpie, Sesame Pumpkin and Five Hours
Happy Thursday Lovely People!
I think we can all agree that the current weather situation is rather pleasant and certainly puts a spring in the step right?
The thing is, besides the warm sunny days, spring brings the flapping black and white wings of the magpie. For me (and perhaps some of you too) this introduces significant stress because I am bird phobic. I am not entirely sure when it started but a regular walk many years ago, interrupted by a kamikaze magpie that resulted in a pierced ear did not help. I can admire Willy Wagtails and Kookaburra’s when they have their little sing alongs because I know they are not interested in me (unless I’m holding a sausage in the case of the Kookaburra) but that is my limit.
This means that in spring, my walks can often be a bit longer than usual and potentially zig zaggy, if I need to avoid a potential magpie post. I guess that this helps with the plan to up the steps that we talked about last week. They somehow know that I am around too and you will often find flapping birds if I’m around – go figure.
This week’s quote is a little reminder for me, what about you?
Something to Think About
“If you face the fear it goes, if you run from it, it grows’.” Unknown
Something to Make
Sesame Pumpkin
Pumpkin is such a versatile vegetable – it can be made into soup, roasted, put into a salad, grated into muffins, quiches, scones, cake and so much more.
Sesame pumpkin is a delicious side to any protein and literally takes 5 minutes to prepare.
Ingredients
Small Butternut pumpkin (or any other you prefer)
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Sea salt flakes
Method
- Scrub the pumpkin and thinly slice (about 1cm thick)
- Place all ingredients into a large lined baking tray and toss to coat the pumpkin
- Place in oven and roast (tossing once halfway through) for approximately 30 minutes, or until soft
Something to Do
Each week I receive a newsletter from Greg McKeown, an Organisational Psychologist, who teaches people how to focus and simplify. He often writes about super interesting things and last week he discussed a routine known as The Five Hour Rule, which piqued my interest. This rule dates back to Benjamin Franklin who devoted (at least) an hour a day to learning something new and in his case, he woke early to read and write for an hour each day. The idea is that making use of an hour each day to educate yourself on something, exercises your mind, improves your skills and allows the practice of discipline.
The question is, when and how can we do this? If you work or study during the day, often the last thing you feel like doing is coming home to engage your brain again. Yet, perhaps there are different ways of learning despite this.
For a few years now, I have been learning Italian and each night I spend about 20 minutes doing free Duolingo lessons on my phone. I am about to hit 1800 days straight of doing this, only because I can do it without any preparation and in a short period of time. I am so committed to keeping that streak now and I can because it is something I can do anywhere.
Other ways that we can incorporate learning into our day/night is reading before you go to bed, listening to a podcast on your way home, attending a free online lecture or webinar or watching a documentary. The process of learning something does bring joy and it doesn’t need to be related to your job or your expertise.
What about you – are you a fan of the Five Hour Rule?
