to get people moving? Bad news from the doctor? More evidence from scientific studies trumpeting the benefits of exercise? A tragic event? A life or death decision? I met a 36 year-old woman today who has been recently diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and was given three years to live. She is pretty much out of options and can only wait and watch her nerves and muscles and overall function decline to the point where she will no longer be able to breathe. I felt so bad for her, so helpless, until she shocked me by asking me to start her on an exercise program! WOW! This will be a most pleasant challenge, and I admire her guts. Rather than sit and wait for a seemingly predestined future, she is going full speed into it. Who knows what will happen; this is pretty much unchartered territory with exercise and ALS. When I asked her why start now, she replied “because I want to feel as much as possible for as long as I can.” What a beautiful statement. I’m wondering what it will take for the many others to start exercising? Are you going to wait until you’re about to lose something like your life? Or will you be grateful for what health you have and start moving tomorrow? What you get out of life depends a great deal on what you bring to it. Your own health is a product of what you put into your body (food), and what you do with it (activity). As always, you make the call; make it a good one.
Some may read this and think that I’m lecturing, or scolding, and maybe it comes across that way. I feel very passionate about what I do, and with what I experienced today, I just felt that I needed to get on my soapbox and speak.
Stay well, John R Blilie, M.S.