This has been something of an interesting week – for a few reasons.
(1) I was on a short holiday over last weekend to visit with relatives in Calgary. OK, perhaps ‘holiday’ is the wrong word if ‘relatives’ and ‘Calgary’ give you an uncomfortable feeling, but it was something of a family reunion centered around my mother’s 85 birthday. I had not seen many of my relatives for at least 5 years but I could still recognize everyone over the age of 35. It was difficult with the younger crowd though. The disconcerting part about it was that although the facial similarities were there, the easiest factor to use in matching up family members was body shape. To put it bluntly, obese cousins have obese kids. Somewhere the message on eating habits isn’t getting through, even though nutrition is taught in their schools. I wonder/worry what types of challenges these kids are going to have in their future.
(2) Several people from our department attended the AAPS seminar given on Tuesday by Warren Macdonald (www.warren-macdonald.com) . Inspiring, yes. Motivational – to a degree. He confessed to be the type of person that always tried to expand his comfort zone. I’m sure this was a major contributing factor to what he was able to accomplish after his accident. I suspect that people with smaller comfort zones would not have carried on to his achievements but that may not be important at all. Attitude is: “It’s not What you see; How you see is what you get…” Whatever your goals are, approaching them with a positive attitude is critical.
(3) Back to the family reunion. A large group of us capped off the weekend celebrations by attending a stage production of ‘The Lion King’. Great show. Great Allegory.
Somewhere these three are related. This is a blog about our fitness goals and how to achieve them. Obviously we have to be informed about ways to be fit, nutritionally and otherwise, and the proper attitude is essential.
Hakuna matata!
{ 2 comments }
On a somewhat unrelated note, I was also in Calgary this past weekend Ted. I went to a wedding. The groom was 81 and the bride was 77. As both their partners had passed away, these two decided (after a period of mourning) to begin a new adventure. I felt priviledged to witness the event and be shown that it’s never too late to push beyond your comfort zone.
Ted, I very much liked your use of the word ‘proper’ (as opposed to the worn-out ‘positive’). …the PROPER attitude is essential!
When things go sideways (or just too slowly) and people get discouraged, encouraging them to ‘adopt a positive attitude’ may very well irritate them and turn them off even more. I mean, when we’re having a crappy day (or week) very few of us enjoy being told: “Chin up! Turn that frown upside down!” (Grrrrr..)
Most of us respond better to positive but rational messaging like: “Take it one step at a tiime. It’ll won’t always be easy, you may hit some bumps but you’ll get there” or “Baby steps” – that type of thing.
To me, “proper” implies balance and intelligence and reasonableness!
This may seem like a non-point to some of you – I tend to fixate on words – but I think there is something to it. I plan to use Ted’s
“proper” choice of words to help me refine my perspective and my expectations so they serve me better. Thanks Ted!
Comments on this entry are closed.