You may have heard of one of the latest dietary trends — intermittent fasting.

I have a long-time friend who has been doing it for several months — and after doing it consistently, he feels better, sleeps better and has lost over 50 pounds.

The premise could not be simpler; intermittent fasting does not mean all day, or even multiple day fasting.

My friend only eats between about noon and 5 p.m.

After the first few days, getting used to such a schedule is actually not very difficult.

I follow that schedule a day or two a week, and I must admit that the days I adhere to that diet, are the days that I feel better and more productive.

Intermittent fasting may not be for everyone, but applying the principle in different areas just might make us more attentive, productive and appreciative.

It would be easy to make the argument that, whether we have noticed it or not, we live our lives on an intermittent basis; from how we eat to how we sleep to the turning of the earth into an out of daylight and darkness.

In theory at least, we eat a limited number of meals at (relatively) established times and, go to sleep — and wake up — on (for the most part) a regular schedule.

In other words, we do virtually everything on an intermittent schedule.

We all live on an ever-shifting balance

If you have watched an actual tightrope walker, (or have tried it yourself) you know that to make it across that taut line, to make any progress at all, you must go sideways almost as much as forward.

The same principle holds true at work or school. To make any progress, especially on a long-term basis, we need to take breaks, or at least shift our focus.

At work or school we need breaks and activities that remind us what we are doing and why.

We have holidays and vacations that give us both rest and perspective.

We humans love routine — and novelty

One of the central aspects of human beings is that we love what is familiar, but we also love, in small doses, diversions from what we already know and do.

In other words, we tend to find ourselves attached to what we have already done (don’t we all have “favorite” songs or foods?) or our preferred way of doing something?

But we also love (most of the time) different experiences.

Consider travel for example; the cliché about travel is that we love to see new places and, of course, we love to get back home. Non-stop travel, or being at home too long both get old.

Most of us look forward to our holidays and changes of seasons, but it doesn’t take us very long to become weary of where are and look forward to something new.

In other words, we, almost like that metaphorical tightrope walker, make our way through life, in our careers and daily lives going back and forth between work and rest, inhaling and exhaling, indoors and outdoors and much more.

If there is anything a tightrope walker, or a bicyclist or parent (or even someone on an active career track) cannot do, it is sitting still.

As the well-known song from Fiddler on the roof puts it;

Sunrise, sunset,

Swiftly fly the years,

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,

Blossoming even as we gaze.

Sunrise, sunset,

Swiftly fly the years,

One season following another,

Laden with happiness,

And tears

In each day, and over our lifetimes, we move into, and out of, ever-shifting terrain.

The seasons of life run parallel to the seasons of the planet, and the one thing we all know and share, no matter how we define ourselves politically, philosophically or religiously, our lives and challenges emerge in front of us, and nothing, from our personal health, our relationships or our neighborhoods stays the same.

Intermittent fasting may seem like just another diet fad, but one way or another, we’ve all been doing it all of our lives, and we humans have been doing it, or something very close to it, as long we have existed.

This too, shall pass

In short, no matter where we are in life, whether we like, love it, hate it or barely tolerate it, one thing we know for certain is that it will not last forever.

As the old sports saying summed up any given game, and life itself, “It ain’t over until it’s over”.

One man I knew who kept fit and healthy well into his 90s had a very simple life philosophy; keep moving.

It doesn’t get much simpler than that.