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Championing Ourselves
When we think of champions, we think of people who have accomplished things beyond the bounds of accepted belief or expectation. While such feats might require tremendous strength or ingenuity, in many cases there’s another underlying requirement: courage.
Mother Knows Best
Not long ago, I came across a quote from an unknown source that read: “Sound really does travel slower than light. The advice parents give to their 18-year-olds doesn’t reach them until they’re about 40.”
Fitness as a Family Value
For far too long now, the pursuit of fitness has been equated with individual achievement. In the media and general culture, fitness has typically been about performance (who can go farthest, fastest), or it’s been about possession – washboard abs and seductive good looks. The body as object.
Workout Wisdom
“Get yourself an exercise buddy.” That’s some of the best exercise advice I’ve ever heard. But I swear, no health and fitness idea (except perhaps “eat more vegetables”) has been so completely overexposed, yet so totally underutilized.
Right-Track Retrospective
I just realized that this year marks my 30-year fitness anniversary. I was 13 when I started working out and I’ve been doing it ever since, studying and experimenting with all sorts of different sports and fitness techniques along the way.
Walk in the Park
Once, a long time ago, someone gave me a sensible piece of outdoors advice: If you’re out on a hike and aren’t sure whether your trail loops back on itself, turn around whenever your water is half gone.
Turn of Phrase
“Lighten up” is one of those funky little phrase that can mean many different things.
Lightening Your Load
Left to my own devices, I’m a person who takes things on. Challenges, projects, ideas, stuff – I love experiencing and discovering all kinds of things.
Off and Running
I’ve been running for a few years now. I like it, mostly. Except when I hate it.
Rock – and Roll
Spring is the season of new projects and brave commitments. It’s a time when many people decide they are ready to take on big changes. Just having a couple more hours of daylight can be enough to flood our bodies with the desire to tackle new challenges and convince us to set a new plan in motion.
Making Connections and Taking Action
Zowie! Ever since the last issue lit a fire under me (Jan./Feb., Action Plan 2004), I’ve been on kind of an action rampage.
What Life Expects of Us
When I travel outside the country, I am regularly reminded of how many people are struggling with immense problems and living in great need, without basic necessities like food, shelter and freedom. I am also reminded, at these times, by how blessed many of us are to be facing lesser struggles.
Getting It Done
“Is this supposed to press down on my nose so much,” I asked Ryan, the trainer administering my metabolic and VO2 max test. “Yeah, it needs to be snug enough so air doesn’t get in through the sides,” he explained, adjusting the straps and checking the seal of the mask.
Reinventing Yourself
It’s resolutions season again – a time of review and reflection, and for many, a time of frustration. We may find ourselves facing some of the same issues we faced last year and the year before. And not all of them have improved with age.
Non-Instant Gratification
This marks the end of my second full year editing Experience Life. Two years of reading and writing about wellness, fitness and quality of life.
Coming Up for Air
Hey, did we get an abridged-version of summer this year? I swear it was July before I even got my garden in, and then it seemed like the next time I looked, all my plants were already going to seed.
Doing Something Rash
Maybe it’s my imagination, but I’ve begun to notice this weird phenomenon in my editing work. If I start working on an interesting story, or I get into researching a new topic, I’ll often have some sort of direct personal experience with the subject matter. Some of these serendipitous encounters are quite pleasant. Others, not so much.
Watching for Signs
For the past few months, my neighborhood has been slowly filling with signs. Lawn signs, mostly – signs about war and peace, signs rallying support for different points of view. One morning last week, I went out for my morning run and noticed that all the signs belonging to one camp had disappeared. Overnight, I presume, one side took down the other side’s signs – an effort that would have required both trespassing and stealing.
Control Issues
This being the Take Charge issue and all, it’s tempting to claim that when we relaunched Experience Life magazine a little over a year ago, we knew exactly what we were doing – that we planned it out and made it happen just so.
Will and Grace
It starts when some nice clerk ma’ams you at the supermarket. Then you notice waitresses aren’t asking to see your ID quite so often. Next thing you know, you’re saying things like, “When I was younger,” and it no longer sounds even a little bit silly.