Hello Readers, it's Monday, and today we are starting the week with inspiration, insight, and thoughts to fill the week. Buddhist Monk Matthieu Ricard starts us with questions that lead to more questions; Dr. Peter Attia talks to us about hydration and why we need to be conscious of it as we age. MindJournal walks us through a Not-To-Do-List, perfect for Monday planning, and a clip from one of our all-time favorite shows about the news. Welcome back to another week in life!

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At With A Shout, we talk about poetry, inspiration, music, and all the special people and things that expand on things that make us want to be better. Today's Big Story is about an extraordinary Monk named Matthieu Ricard, and the story comes to us from the NYT Magazine. Ricard was the French interpreter to the Dalai Lama, holds a Ph.D. in cellular genetics, and researchers in the U.S. once determined that Ricard's brain produced a massive amount of Gamma Waves, which help with learning, attention, and memory. In other words, a “Happy Hulk?”  The story by David Marchese stuck with us all weekend, and it sparked several late-night discussions as we wrote up our highlights. As a practicing Buddhist monk, there was a lot of discussion in this interview about suffering, and in the conversation, suffering sounds like "Do unto Others."

Words like indignant and malevolent were used, and each time a word or part of the conversation went from "how should we handle mean people," Ricard brought it back to suffering and the separation of the act from the "actor." To quote Ricard, "If someone beats you with a stick, you don't get angry with the stick…" Compassion Ricard says can help us remedy suffering for hatred and the person under its spell.

When we see another person is under the spell of hatred and ignorance, separating the person from the act is easier. In our discussions after reading Marchese’s' article, we could see the difference. A person convinced to believe in hatred (under a spell) isn't that different from the rest of us who claim to be more enlightened. Still, we group haters into categories of people who hate instead of people under a spell of hatred, usually conjured up by people in or after power.

Toward the end of the article, Ricard summarizes and provides advice for those of who need to practice more compassion. Similar to the golden rule, but with more background. Accept that helping others is the best way to help yourself. 

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One of our favorite scientists, Dr. Peter Attia, wrote an article about hydration in aging adults. Attia gives older adults the same advice we middle-agers have been given: track your hydration and build more muscles. Tracking hydration makes sense, and the article suggests that as we age, our bodies aren't as good at telling us it's thirsty, and without the triggers, we could drink less. Low muscle mass also hurts individual hydration, first by continuing to dull the sense that you are thirsty, and second, if you went to the gym or did other muscle-building exercises, you'd get thirsty.

Peter Attia has a ton of content available for consumption; he recently released a book on aging called Outlive, and has a popular YouTube channel. Attia is highly detailed in his research, and his presentations are heavily backed up by data. We have seen and read several hours of content from Attia over the years, and his recommendations for hydration as we age are the same recommendations he gives to every age and are also the primary factors in his longevity studies. Muscle mass deterioration leads to falls and balance deficiencies, a significant lifespan issue as we age.

In summary, get up, drink more water, and go to the gym!

A recovering addict used to give public talks to people who struggled with addiction and those who lived with and/or cared for people who struggled with addiction. One of the things he said during his talks was how he simplified his life and decision-making process. He did this by buying 5 black tee shirts and 4 pairs of jeans; this eliminated the need for him to decide what he would wear every day. MindJournal wrote a piece this week that reminded us of the talk; in the piece called Why You Need A Not-To-Do List, they start by listing what you should not be doing. Makes sense, but few of us write out what we shouldn't do; the exercise may surprise you.

Like the speaker above MindJournal quotes President Barack Obama, who said, "You'll see I wear only grey or blue suits." Reducing decisions is a great way to increase your time and ability to focus on what should be on the To-Do List.

The article goes on to walk through how to set up a "Not-List," and it looks like a negative to-do list – there is more detail in the list, and it will give you a deeper understanding of what you could be wasting a lot of time doing. A worthwhile exercise, especially if you have big projects you want to finish before the end of the year.

Everything Is Boring.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

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Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

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