Meet and Greet

I have no idea why it still feels so chilly when it reaches evening time.  We have reached the end of April already and the weather should be improving day by day.  The daylight has improved for sure, as we are seeing daylight much earlier in the mornings and for longer periods of the day.  However, the temperature still seems unstable.  Ah well!!

So in the past week I've managed to get to bed by 10PM most nights.  Not every night I must confess.  Sunday night and Monday managed 10PM.  Monday morning I felt amazing with eight hours of sleep and noticed that I didn't yawn at all throughout the day until about 2PM!  And that was even after workout first thing in the morning as well.  Sleep is so under-rated!  Tuesday night I think I managed 10:30PM.  Wednesday I went Go-karting with a bunch of fellow driving instructors.  It was Scotkart at Clydebank and it was so much fun!  Got home not very late, about 9:50PM I think, but it was too close to bed time and it was impossible to 'switch off' just like that so I went to bed just after 11PM.  It went downhill from there basically cos Thursday night I came home pretty late and ended up missing the gym on Friday morning.  Not to fret, as I made it back up yesterday morning doing circuit style exercises for 45mins and then getting home for breakfast before starting work.  All in all, I do totally feel the benefits of my sleeping plan of 10PM-6AM.  I want to try it again this coming week although I have a pretty busy week of work ahead of me, with the latest finish of 8PM in the west end one evening.  I don't like finishing so late as it usually means I cannot get to bed on time especially after I eat a little something once I get home.  Ah well, we'll see what happens eh.

I think I'll sign up for the Men's Conference 2012 at Destiny Church on the 16th of June.  The conference runs from 9AM that Saturday morning and ends in the evening time.  I would imagine it would be a whole day event for Christian brothers studying the Word of God together, having fellowship and praying together.  Guess I'll make new friends there as well.  One thing I've realised about myself recently is that I need to expand in my circle of friends.  Due to the 'isolated' nature of my job as a driving instructor, where I have no colleagues per se, where I am 'on my own' most of the time, it does limit my time of socialising and communicating with others.  And by the time my working day is over I retire back at home where I just see my mum and sister.  There is not much chance to really hang out with friends.  Sundays are the times when I get a break from work, and I get to see brothers and sisters in church.  However, the time spent is short and sometimes I feel there is not enough time to build quality friendships.  So I'm seeking the Lord's direction as to what to do.  As I grow older it is important to maintain an open mind and an open heart to get to know other people, to branch out and accept others and be accepted.  I must not be a hermit nor so inward looking.

So the lesson which I've (re)learnt in the past week is that, it is ok to go up to talk to people.  I have got to be less shy.  Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet other driving instructors, some of whom I have never met.  At first it was a bit daunting, the idea of meeting and racing with other instructors whom I didn't know.  But it only takes the first line, "Hi, I'm Gordon!" followed by offering your hand for a handshake, and the rest seems to flow.  By the end of the night we all broke the ice and everyone seemed very friendly and we had a great laugh.  Saturday night, we had an evangelistic event in church.  There were many new faces there, especially from Mandarin service.  I managed to speak to one Mandarin dude whilst we were still setting up.  Due to English limitations the conversation was quite short.  Just before the event began I plucked up the courage to greet three younger people: Anson, Alison and her sister Elaine.  It was to my shame that it was the first time I ever spoken to Alison as she has been in EM for around six months I think, and I hadn't ever spoken to her or the friend she comes with.  But talking to them yesterday was totally fine and not as scary as it might seem.  Tonight, at Destiny Church I managed to talk to a lady called Linda after the service.  We had a good conversation about how nice Destiny Church is with how it is managed, the work it does locally and globally and how it has changed so many lives.  I felt very refreshed and encouraged tonight and well rested.  Although Destiny Church in the southside it not very local, but it is definitely worth the travel down to worship with so many others.  Looking forward to attending Destiny Church services more frequently.


Lesson of the Day: Take the leap and greet people.  It is not so scary!!

Sleep

Fifteen minutes until I head to bed.  For the coming week I will try to sleep for eight hours each night.  To get up at 6AM for the gym would mean I need to get to bed for 10PM.  I might not fall asleep right away but at least I will be resting7: my eyes and I will be away from the temptations of Facebook, Whatsapp, Youtube, Draw Something and WORDS with Friends.  Haha!

Sleep is very important for everybody, especially for those who work out.  Sleep allows the body to repairs it's muscle tissues which were damaged during exercise and lets the body restore it's energy, before the next bout!  For too long I've neglected my sleep and averaged about 6-7 hours of sleep per night.  There were some nights I was still up around 2AM which mean only four hours of sleep left before getting up for the gym.  Hence I missed a few training sessions due to this.  No good.

Instead, if I do a trial of sleeping 10PM-6AM each night, I hope to see/ feel better energy levels as well as improvement to my physique as the body is allowed to recharge properly.  That would mean a typical weekday would pan out as follows:

10PM-6AM Sleep
6AM-10AM Gym, breakfast, prep lunch
10AM-7:30PM Work
7:30PM-10PM Dinner and wind down
10PM-6AM Sleep.... and the cycle continues so on and so forth!

I think it won't be too difficult for the first few days, at least until Friday.  However, on Saturday there will be a church event going on which is posted as 7PM-9:30PM.  I doubt I'll get to bed for 10PM, but then again, if I don't need to get up at 6AM on Sunday morning I should be ok.  Will still aim for eight hours of quality sleep.  Ok, time is now 21:55hrs to be exact.  Gotta go now.  Goodnight y'all!