Fitness on the inside – Positive Motivation
Fitness on the inside – Positive Mental Motivation – “Doing the Dream”
As a fitness instructor I truly understand the meaning of wellness as a whole. You must daily do the things to keep your health fit on the inside as well as the outside. I train folks everyday by teaching them techniques to get fit on the inside and out through exercise, nutrition and positive mental motivation.
Challenges this week have proven the importance of all of these areas but particularly those of postive mental motivation. My dad was admitted to UVA in Charlottesville, VA for the 8th time to under go emergency surgery for yet another pacemaker/infection problem. I sat for 6 hours and observed 26 doctors and nurses as they continually worked to save his life after complications that occured after 8 hours of surgery. I never left the room. Mentally that was a challenge for me. To see my dad go through this took “staying power“. That is what I call it. The will to “stay” in the game and compete no matter what the outcome.
Dad once again won Thursday night. He lived. Now it is about the mental motivation for him. To stay in the game and compete with his self as they decide what needs to be done. So how does one do that? To not not get depressed, to not turn negative as one waits? I for one am just like my father. I realize the importance of exercise, eating right and good humor. He has been doing it for years. That is why the doctors believe he does well in recovery at the age of 76. But what about the mental challenge of the whys and do’s during the waits? Like “why is this happening to me, I try to be healthy” and “why again”? “What do I do while I wait for maybe 2 weeks in a hospital bed for the answer”? “Will I live through this next surgery”?
Observing these things takes me back to 2 things I realize are important as we wait.
1- Bar the door to negativity. Do not let those who are negative and words of negativity be brought into the picture. Bringing light, positive words and humor brings positive results. As a trainer the “you can do it” outlook brings positive results. Some people do not have the ability to see or begin to act on this principal. That is why it is important to have trainers, doctors, friends, pastors and colleges who can coach and instruct positive mental motivation.
One of the best mental motivators in my adult life has been local author, UNC professor and friend Joel Bryant. I met Joel 4 years ago through one of his writings “Doing the Dream”.
That writing brings me to the second observance of positive mental motivation.
2-The doing part of ones life. Are you doing the dream? I truly believe that the positive results we get are the outcome of what we do while we live and while we wait. I will be bringing Joel to the Ballantyne area in October for a free seminar to help those who need good health on the inside!
For now read “Doing the Dream” and think on the healthy part of it for the whole healthiness of you! While you read I will do by heading back over to the hospital room from my hotel to remind my dad what he can do while he waits….what are you doing while you can to better your health inside and out?
Doing the Dream – by Joel Bryant
The nineties are gone and the millennium is here. Are you doing the dream? Are you keeping the vows you made to yourself? If not, it’s time. Of course, anyone who has ever tried to succeed knows that doing so is easier on paper than it is in practice. Countless delays and confounding details guard the gate of greatness preventing our entry. Yet despite opposition our potential remains. It prods us at night and provokes us from a nap, saying, “You can do better than this.”
Unfortunately, however, many of us ignore its voice and renounce our vision. We spend our lives helping others fulfill theirs instead. We do for them what we are unwilling to do for ourselves – believe in our own greatness. Some of us have good reasons for neglecting our dreams. Marriage can distract and divorce can crush. Even so, our potential remains. It acknowledges our reasons but rejects them. Admiration of others and frustration with ourselves is its way of saying, “You can do better than this.”
That’s why we must challenge ourselves. Friends can encourage and others can inspire but ultimately we must be willing to pursue our dreams. Else, we make life seem unfair and ourselves feebler than we are. Worst of all, we live defeated.
What if our employers and been as timid? What if homebuilders and childcare providers had been afraid to open their doors? Where would we live and work? Who would keep our children? Instead of exalting our fears we should consider these facts. Everything, after all, begins with a dream, which fear denies and failure frustrates. But that’s where faith helps and counsel strengthens. The key, however, is to do the dream, to not let life pass and death swallow before we do. So, let this be the year that you do the dream.
