An Enthusiastic Life with Eric Teplitz

Today's guest is Eric Teplitz.  Eric is a “life enthusiast” who routinely undertakes challenging endeavors that intrigue him and impel him to grow. He has recorded and independently released an album of original songs; acted onstage in community theater productions; backpacked over 500 miles of the Appalachian Trail; completed an Ironman triathlon (after three attempts); volunteered hundreds of hours in a hospital performing music for patients; overcome an aversion to needles to become a regular blood donor; and is the author of over 100 posts on Eric’s Inspired Living Blog.

As a personal coach, he is passionate about helping others open themselves up to a more expansive sense of what is possible; overcome resistance to following their interests, passions, curiosities, and dreams; and achieve a greater sense of meaning, purpose, and life satisfaction.

Connect with Eric on his website, https://ericteplitz.com/

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Online: https://wholisticnaturalhealth.com.au

A Subito Media production

Transcript

Magic Barclay: 1:00

Welcome back to a magical life. I'm your host magic Barclay. And today I'm joined by Eric toz. Eric is passionate about helping others open themselves up to a more expansive sense of what is possible, overcome resistance to following their interests, passions, curiosities, and dreams, and to achieve a greater. Of meaning and purpose and life satisfaction. He is a writer who's published over 100 articles on Eric's inspired living blog, personal coach, and creator of the online course opening to greater possibilities, which is full of practical tips for getting unstuck and living a more fulfilling life. I am really looking forward to these episodes with Eric. Welcome.

Eric Teplitz: 1:50

Thank you so much magic. I am thrilled to be here.

Magic Barclay: 1:54

It's my absolute pleasure. Now I've titled this episode in enthusiastic life and as someone who encourages people to have a magical life that really grabbed me, it's like synchronicity. So, can you just sum up now that we've learned a little bit about you, what you think an enthusiastic life can.

Eric Teplitz: 2:17

I think that it takes deliberate, conscious effort to live an enthusiastic life. It is a choice. It is a decision and an attitude. It's a way of being in the world. It's a way of realizing that as far as we know, we have one opportunity at this. This thing that we call life it's, it's really mysterious. I think that anyone that claims to have it all figured out, you should stay away from them and beware of them because it's, uh, it's an adventure and it's a mystery and there's. No matter how educated we might be. And no matter how intelligent we might be, there's far more going on that we don't understand than we, uh, possibly do. So living with enthusiasm the way I see it is a decision that even though we might not understand this whole experience, we're going to do our best to make the most of it. I couldn't

Magic Barclay: 3:23

agree with you more really making the most of everything around you, everything you are, everything that's possible really does open doors, no matter what's going on, you know, in the background. And, and certainly times have changed now that. I've seen so many of have fallen into this trap of, oh, well, you know, the world's not like it used to be, and this is happening and the leaders are saying that, but it really is what you make of it. And we were just saying off air. I was talking about here, where I live in Australia, some of the crazy laws going on. And I, I actually remember just saying to you, but none of that affects you. If you turn the TV off, it's like you can go and live your life and have amazing experiences still. It's. Are you in a cage that your mind has designed? Are you in a cage, someone else has designed that you think is there because if you are the door's always open. That's my

Eric Teplitz: 4:20

theory. Yeah. I have two things I wanna say in response to that. So I'm not suggesting that we look at life through rose colored glasses and ignore everything that is. Disturbing and unsettling and frightening, and just, you know, being like, uh, a little kid who is plugging up his ears and saying, you know, I can't hear you. I can't hear you. I'm not saying we should approach life that way. Um, but there are two things that I wanna say in, in sort of clarification and in response to what you just said, the first is in regard to the news. And the news is a, if you wanna be depressed, if you wanna be frightened, the news is your best friend. um, I'm not suggesting that we shut out reality and that we don't pay attention to what's going on. I wanna be clear. I'm not suggesting that, but what I am suggesting is that the news is a distorted. Picture of the overall reality that's taking place on any given day on this planet. What I mean by that is that the news is designed to, uh, quite honestly, I mean, the news is designed to both titillate, but also to, uh, disturb and upset you because that's, what's going to get eyeballs on the page. That's what's gonna get people clicking on advertisements and that is. It's not, the news is not designed for the health and wellbeing of all of its consumers. The news is designed to, to keep you glued to it. And I suppose that there are some similarities, um, to social media as well in terms of how it's, how it's designed. So my point is just that. If your impression of the world is just what you take in from the news, wherever you receive your news, it's going to be distorted and it's going to be biased in a, uh, extremely negative way. But if you were, if you were somehow to account for all of the activity and all of the interactions between humans on the planet in a given day, you would see that it's not just filled with the awful stuff. There are so many good people making efforts to do good and to love one another and to show up in their lives for themselves and for others. So I just want to, that's the first dis you know, bit of clarification I wanna make. And then the second thing is that. Again, I don't think it's it's it. Does anyone any good to deny when things happen that are upsetting and that are even tragic in your life? Um, denying it is not, again, is not beneficial to anyone, even though we have, I think, a certain amount of natural. Tendency to, uh, to do so. um, but what I like to say is that while we would not choose everything that happens to us, we can use everything that happens to us. So a lot of things, uh, that, you know, we may lose our job. Something may happen to us. Health wise, we may suffer. Number of slings and arrows, that life throws at us. And by the way, no one is immune to these. It doesn't matter how privileged you are. It doesn't matter how wealthy you are. If you are signed up in this game, you are vulnerable to many kinds of Experiences that let's say one would not choose to have. And I'm not saying it's a, it's a level playing field, uh, by any stretch. But I'm just saying that no matter who you are, you are subject to losses. You're subject to ill health, your subject to quote bad things happening. And so the way that I think of it is that. We would not necessarily choose everything that happens to us, but we can find a productive and positive way to make use of it. There's a, there's a quote that I love that says Garrison Keeler, I believe is the one who, uh, who I first encountered it through. And he said, nothing bad ever happens to a writer. It's all material. And you may not be a literal writer, but you are the author of your life. And so you can find a way to make use of all of the experiences that are part of your life story. And you can find a way to put them to some kind of productive and positive use that is in, in line with your values and in service to others.

Magic Barclay: 9:06

Very well said that was extremely well summed up. So Eric, I ask all my guests the same three questions here, and the array of answers that I get is nothing short of amazing. And it just goes to show how. Adaptable humans are how different we all are. So here comes your first question. what can your expertise do to accelerate health? Be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or other

Eric Teplitz: 9:36

It's a fantastic question. I can answer it. uh, in terms of what I find to be the most nourishing to my own health. It's funny you used the word expertise and I believe that we each are our own experts, at least as far as ourselves goes. So in other words, I'm the expert of me. You're the expert of you. And so it's wonderful to take in advice and suggestions and wisdom from others, but it should all be filtered through your own sense of does this resonate with me? So that's my disclaimer is apply it. What I say to your life, if you find it relevant, if you find it helpful and if not discard it and find something else that that is for myself. One of the things that nourishes me in every way, imaginable, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, is hiking. Being out in nature, moving my body through nature. Now, I, I understand that not everyone is able bodied, quote, able bodied, not everyone, uh, can necessarily walk, but if you can find some way of moving, moving, and exercising yourself, and for me, the, the nature part of it is, is pretty E. There is something incredibly restorative and nourishing. I don't understand quite honestly exact I have ideas about it, but I don't understand exactly why this is so beneficial for my wellbeing. I just know from experience that it absolutely is. So it's one of my mainstays. I do. I make a point of getting out in nature and the combination. Physical exercise and movement and getting the endorphins going as well as just getting what I like to call a nature massage and just having my senses take in nature. And by the way, I personally recommend doing this without plugging up any of your senses. So in other words, I see people all the time out riding their bikes or going for a run, and they're listening to a podcast or listening to music. They've got their, you know, their ears plugged. And, uh, you know, again, if that works for you. Fantastic. But I find that that actually detracts from the experience, because even though I may not be consciously attuned to, and listening to all of the sounds in my environment, I've noticed that something is definitely missing from the experience. When I plug up my, you know, any one of my senses as I hike. So that would be my go-to answer is hiking it's of course is not the only way in which I take care of myself. It's not the only focus for being well and experiencing wellness, but it's the first thing that came to mind when you asked the question.

Magic Barclay: 12:33

And of course the Japanese invented forest bathing, and that's a wonderful way of being out in nature and grounding by inhaling the microbes from the dirt. By taking in essential oils that the trees are releasing. And as you said, you don't have to be able bodied to do that. You can get someone to take you into the forest, just make sure they take you back home. but, uh, you actually can enjoy forest bathing and. Even if you can't go hiking, you can still get the benefits for your health. So that is a fantastic tip to get out in nature. And, you know, listeners, I always encourage you to listen to our podcast as you are walking, but the podcasts are only about half an hour long. So if you're going for an hour's walk, do one podcast and half an hour of listening to. Now we ask about wealth here. So wealth isn't just financial. It's also like personal or emotional wealth. So what are three tips that you have to creating

Eric Teplitz: 13:41

wealth? Uh, Creating wealth. Yes. When you said that, I thought of a quote and I don't know it. I don't have it memorized. Um, so I'll get it slightly wrong. But the gist of it is that living the life you want to live is the, is the ultimate experience of wealth. So I'm, you know, there is a quote to that effect. You can probably find it easily on the internet. I love that quote because ultimately it does come down to how you want to live your life, how you want to spend your time on this earth. And the more you can get clear about that and the more that you can peel away, everything else, uh, you. There are certain things we have to take care of, of course, in our lives. We can't just do what we want all the time, but the more that you can live on your own terms and in a way that's meaningful to you and strip everything else away. To me that is true wealth. And of course your. Physical health is a, is an essential part of wealth. You can be a trillionaire there will be one soon if there isn't already. And if you are not, well, if you're not healthy, it's your money is meaningless in terms of what it can do for you. Um, so it's, I think essential to really take stock and pay attention to the things that nourish you and make a point of incorporating them into your life. And I think it's worth some reflection. I am a big proponent of journaling, but whatever practice you find serves, you reflection to tune into yourself to figure out and find out and discover what really matters to you and living. In accordance with that. And by the way, this can change and evolve over the course of your life. What matters to you at the age of 20 is probably going to be somewhat different from what matters to you at the age of 40, or at least the, the order of your priorities. So it's, it's really important to listen and go inward to determine this because we have endless. Distractions that we face. And there are endless opinions of others that we are exposed to deliberately or not. And those have tremendous influence on us. And those things may or may not be, um, nourishing to us. They may or may not be what we want for ourselves and our lives. So the more you can tune in. Be true to what you feel is meaningful in life and tune out the noise that, that suggests other things. I mean, so many people are so influenced. They believe certain things will make them happy because they've been conditioned to believe that you need a big house, that you need, this amount of money that you need, you know, These material things and decide for yourself because the less you need in a sense, the wealthier you are. I don't know if that was three suggestions, but that

Magic Barclay: 17:09

was multiple suggestions. So thank you. Now my final question is usually around weight loss, but I actually think we've covered it in the previous two questions. So we know that stress is a major factor in weight gain or severe weight loss. And we've, you know, talked about going for a hike, journaling, all those kind of things. Is there any other tips that you can give people to really become one with themselves and understand who they are so that weight does not plague. Hmm.

Eric Teplitz: 17:42

So this is definitely not my area of expertise. However, I do have some thoughts in response to what you said, and, you know, it's pretty clear that stress is a killer, a literal killer, and that a and that stress can be very toxic in our lives. But I want to make a point of mentioning this term that you may or may not be familiar with called UREs, which is spelled EU. S T R E S S. So it's stress with EU at the beginning. If you look up this word UREs, what it refers to is the sweet. The sweet spot of stress. And what I mean by that, or what is meant by that in, in terms of UREs, is that yes, it's true. That too much stress and depending on what kind of stress that we experience in our lives, it can be very detrimental and harmful to us at the same time. There is such a thing as not enough stress. And a lot of people don't think about this part. And if you don't have enough stress or at least enough of what might be considered positive stressors, this also can be problematic. And there is a sweet spot. If you think about it, like in terms of, um, let's say your job, if your job is. Overly stressful, too many hours, too much being demanded of you. It's going to be exhausting and it's gonna take a toll on your health at the same time. If your job. Gives you zero stimulation, zero challenge. If you're just doing mind numbing tasks all day long that you could do in your sleep, that don't require you to tap into any of your unique resourcefulness, that also is gonna take a toll on you. And so there's this sweet spot and that's what you stress refers to. It's just the right amount and just the right types of stress that allow you to thrive. So you're not bored. But you're not overwhelmed. So that's, that's the first thing that I thought of when you talked about stress and weight loss and basically finding your ideal weight is a very, very complicated. Thing. I do know people personally who have lost tremendous amounts of weight. And my guess is that each of them did it slightly differently. There are some conventional things, of course that will reduce your weight, but like so many things, I think you need to find a path. That is right for you. And that speaks to where you are not geographically, but where you are in your life at this moment, what is, what would work for you and what makes sense for you. And that's where you should start some

Magic Barclay: 20:33

great tips there. Listeners, you can find Eric at his website, WW. W dot Eric toz.com. That's E R I CT, E P L I T z.com. And you can sign up there for a free preview of his online course or a one on one coaching session. It's very generous. Thank

Eric Teplitz: 20:57

you. My pleasure. I'd love to hear.

Magic Barclay: 21:01

Terrific. And you can learn more about creating your enthusiastic life with Eric. Now coming up in 1 36, Eric will again, rejoin us and we'll be discussing all facets of what an enthusiastic life looks like. And Eric, thank you for your time. In episode 1 35,

Eric Teplitz: 21:22

it's been my pleasure magic. Thanks so much for having me.

Magic Barclay: 21:25

Thank you listeners. This was your episode 1 35. And thank you for your valuable time. Of course, we always appreciate reviews, listener, comments, and the like just pop on over to our Facebook page, a magical life podcast. And in 1 36, we'll again, be joined by Eric for now. Listeners go forth and create your magical life.