“Gluttony, sleep and idleness in bed have banished every virtue from the world. So that our bewildered nature is almost overcome by debauchery. Henceforth, it would be well to rouse yourself from sleep, the Master said, because lying down will not bring thee to Fame; nor staying beneath the covers. He who, without Fame, burns his life to waste, leaves no more vestige of himself on earth than wind-blown smoke or the foam upon the sea.” -Leonardo da Vinci

Isn’t it funny that da Vinci was complaining about how lazy people were in his day? And that was 500 years ago! I guess it is just our nature to veg out. There is no escaping it. It is just fun to flop into bed or onto the couch and space out watching T.V. My personal favorite is to lie across the bed surfing the internet while watching the telly. Being the accomplished professional that I am, I surf the net, watch the shows stacked in my DVR while wiggling a long cat toy along the floor (so kitties aren’t bored) while eating! Ehem, Please don’t tell anyone about this… Does this qualify as debauchery? Me thinks it is so.

We all have goals and dreams that we want to achieve. If only there was more time, if we had more energy, or less demands being placed on us. Sigh…

What do you want the most, right now? At this time in my life the thing I want most is to get my formerly neglected body into the best shape possible. As shedding 170lbs is quite an undertaking, I’ll just have to let becoming fluent in French and making my first million slide for a little while longer.

If you haven’t already – just observe the people in your life. This includes the people you come into contact with personally and those you feel you know because you follow them so closely through various media (not judging, just saying). Compare the behavior of the Haves and the Have-nots. What do the people do who have what you want? Do they work consistently every single day, even when it’s hard? Do they sacrifice? Even though we like to believe that the wealthy, powerful, beautiful people have everything handed to them on a silver platter – I have yet to find one single example of that really being true.

In the morning while I’m still sleeping, Gwyneth Paltrow is putting in the first of her two daily workouts. In the evening while I’m draped across the bed in an altered state of consciousness, Tamara Mellon (founder of Jimmy Choo shoe empire) is still at the office burning the midnight oil (saw that on Oprah). I see pictures of these women at the parties hobnobbing with other rich beautiful celebrities and I want what they have.

So, I guess that is the puzzle each of us has to figure out on our own. What do we yearn for enough to be willing to challenge our human nature hard enough to get? Once you figure that out, find the people who are making it happen and do what they are doing. We all have to answer this question for ourselves, but we don’t have to do this alone. Another part of human nature is the desire to support and help our fellow man in our common journey.

Author Bio: Amy is a certified nutritional consultant who lost 140lbs in just over a year following her own healthy, holistic approach. She stays healthy by using many forms of natural medicine. http://amyafter.com/

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: da Vinci quote,leonardo da vinci, da vinci,laziness,lazy,successful