Sports Teach Life Lessons: "Don't Panic"

I've always believed that sports can teach our children and ourselves valuable life lessons if we let it happen. This past week my Lycoming College Soccer Goalkeeper son taught himself and ME one of those lessons.

He's a hardworking dedicated player. He's never been one to give up. As a 5"7" goalie he also hasn't been one who has been given credit for being damn good. He's too small and what coach is going to acknowledge that this small keeper can beat your tall, bigger players in the air. What coach will drop the ego and elect this young man as an all-league keeper.

That hasn't deterred my son. He plays to win. He plays for the team to win. He doesn't play for individual recognition. This week he AND I, his Mom, got a lesson in perseverance and courage. When the going got rough he didn't run away. He didn't panic!

If that is not a life lesson I don't know what is.

Read my Blog entry: "Don't Panic"

http://www.myspace.com/sherrillaquinn/blog

Bicycling is on a roll in Buffalo - Denise Jewell Gee - The Buffalo News

I'm a bit far to commute the entire distance to work (plus I report to work at 6:00am many days/week), but if there is a will there is a way.

Biking in a couple days per week cuts down on mileage on my car (saving about 55 miles), saves a few bucks in gas, but the biggest benefit is ME, the rider.

Sure it's a bit more of a pain to get the bike rack on the car, get the bike onto the rack, drive to my riding buddies home (closer to work than my home), ride the hour bike ride, then change at work.

But you know, it's two rides per day for 2 days. I commute save the environment a little AND do something good for my health.

There is one more benefit to commuting with a pal...Spending a little quality time with a work-friend. It does my heart good.

The bike is put away for the season. But the holidays are coming up and I think I'll ask Santa for some winter biking gear so I can get out earlier in 2011.

Think about it.

Bicycling is on a roll in Buffalo - Denise Jewell Gee - The Buffalo News

Will We EVER Learn! Abbott Pulls Meridia Weight Loss Drug on Fatal Heart Attack Concerns | All247News

Every 1-2 years we read about diet pills being pulled from the market for their adverse effects. I have to ask myself, why are these drugs even ON the market! And yet, I know the answer to that question, demand. There is a demand for the drug, meaning people are willing to pay for the drug despite the risks.

Why should we blame the pharmaceutical companies? I mean really, somewhere within their literature there must be a warning label. You know that 2 foot long piece of paper that comes inside all the packaging. The one that lists all the "side-effects" and hazards? Yes.

Doesn't that exclude them from any responsibility?! Isn't that enough for someone to at least reconsider taking these drugs? No. No.

We still manufacture them. We still search out and purchase them. We still take them. And we still suffer the consequences.

All because we are not willing to do the work.

My hard-liner feeling...Fine take the drugs. Go ahead. But you assume 100% of the risk. If you die, your estate, your family. your friends you left behind can't sue anyone. You CHOSE to take the drug.

But here is where my basic philosophy on health comes in. "It Takes a Village..." It takes a village for a person to be healthy. It takes each person doing what they need to do to be healthy. It takes a government ensuring that policies are established to protect ourselves from...ourselves, it takes companies truly being altruistically motivated when it comes to the consumers health, not just the "all-mighty" dollar or that quarters profit margins.

It takes everyone doing their share, their part.

When I read articles such as this one year after year, I have to shake my head. Are we so ignorant of our own history to be doomed to constantly repeat mistakes.

Unfortunately, it appears so.

Abbott Pulls Meridia Weight Loss Drug on Fatal Heart Attack Concerns | All247News

Bigfoot Moods - You Can't Win Unless You Enter!

OK, You are right I am stretching the point here on Wellness, but am I? Is fun and laughter as much a part of a healthy vibrant life as exercise and eating nutritiously! I find the more you enjoy the simple, childish things in life the more smiles and laughs you have all day long. Certainly makes a difference in my outlook towards just about everything.

At Fisher-Price their (our) motto is "Our work is child's play!" And it is work, but the rewards are the gazzillion smiling laughing faces of children around the world. Now that is amazing. When I see a happy child I can't help but smile myself.  Those smiles are contagious! 

So go ahead and play. Who cares if you don't win, you'll laugh at the silly faces and gestures Big Foot makes. And if you do win...WOW! You are going to make some child pretty darn happy when your very own Big Foot arrives on your doorstep! 

Bigfoot Moods: "Enter The Bigfoot Moods Sweepstakes for your chance to win a Bigfoot the Monster toy."

We are Only as Strong as our Weakest Link: Bullying should not be Tolerated!

Think this doesn't have anything to do with Health & Wellness? Yes, it does. It speaks to our mental, spiritual, and emotional health as a nation. Bullying has been around forever you say. Yes, but does that make it right or just? No. We've all been bullied in our lives, is it a right of passage? It doesn't have to be. It's a learned behavior that can be passed on from generation to generation due to ignorance & intolerance. It's a cycle, if we chose, can STOP. Yep, stop it dead in it's tracks. By speaking up when prejudicial behavior is heard or seen. By reaching out to those who are targeted. By watching your own behavior especially in the presence of our children.

As an athlete I was always taught that our team was only as strong as our weakest link and that it was up to the stronger athletes to make the weaker players better. As an adult I carry that philosophy with me into the Health & Wellness arena. It is my belief that we, as a nation, as a human race are only as strong as our weakest link. Our weakest link in this case is our GLBT folks. Constant targets by the politicians & the religious right. We, who are strong and have our own personal shields against such insults, must not only protect, but empower our weaker link, our vulnerable people.

We must NOT tolerate these acts. We must no longer be silent when heard. How can we be a healthy nation when we allow these and other behaviors to eat away at our soul as a citizen of this world.

I am fortunate to work with a company that is working on "inclusive" language in it's policies for the employees. But our job is not yet complete. As Ellen mentions in her message, things will get better, things do change and our teens should be around to see it!

Thank you Ellen for this Brilliant message! 

Take Action NOW! Rid Schools of Junk Food!!!

Need I say more?! Childhood obesity is on the rise. This is about our children's health and the future health of our nation. Only a few days left to get junk food out of schools! A few groups are urging Congress to vote against the child nutrition bill when it comes up for a vote this week.  I find this astonishing, and hope you will work with us to ensure the bill passes. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act would get junk food and soda out of vending machines, improve the nutrition quality to school lunches, and expand access to school meals for low-income kids. It will take just a minute to write to your U.S. Representative, which will help counter the misinformation buzz in Washington and improve the nutrition and health of millions of children. Follow Link to Voice your Concern Thank you! Margo Wootan Director, Nutrition Policy Center for Science in the Public Interest

Jack LaLanne Turns 96 Today!

The man is absolutely incredible! 96 and still going strong.  He lived by some simple rules and tenaciously
 stuck by them.  I didn't always agree with his words, but many more than not I did.  You can't deny he lived by his creed.

THE KING OF FITNESS

Jack LaLanne turned 95 on September 26, 2009, and that is hard to believe. He doesn’t look it! In public, young people flock to him and older people feel Jack has found the Fountain of Youth.

Jack LaLanne is America’s Number 1 Physical Fitness Expert and Guru, and is often called the“Godfather of Fitness”. Jack admits it was not always this way. “As a kid,” he flatly states, “I was a sugarholic and a junk food junkie! It made me weak and it made me mean. It made me so sick I had boils, pimples and suffered from nearsightedness. Little girls used to beat me up. My mom prayed… the Church prayed.” It was at the age of 15, when he heard pioneer nutritionist Paul Bragg speak at the Oakland City Women’s Club in San Francisco Bay Area, Jack finally realized that he was addicted to sugar. Bragg promised Jack if he would exercise and eat a proper diet he could regain good health. Jack listened attentively and was fiercely determined to walk away from that lecture ready to build a totally new Jack LaLanne.

LALANNEISMS

Jack LaLanne fervently believes every human being can attain maximum body health and fitness if they will practice moderation, eat the most natural foods, and exercise on a regular basis. Over the years on national television, radio talk shows and in feature stories written about Jack, certain ideas stated by Jack have become little gems known as “LaLanneisms”

Here are a few of Jack’s words of wisdom:

• Anything in life is possible if you make it happen.
• Anything in life is possible and you can make it happen.
• Your waistline is your lifeline.
• Exercise is King, nutrition is Queen, put them together and you’ve got a kingdom.
• Don’t exceed the feed limit.
• The food you eat today is walking and talking tomorrow.
• Ten seconds on the lips and a lifetime on the hips.
• Better to wear out than rust out
• Do – don’t stew.
• People don’t die of old age, they die of inactivity.
• First we inspire them, then we perspire them.
• You eat everyday, you sleep everyday, and your body was made to exercise everyday.
• Work at living and you don’t have to die tomorrow.
• I can’t die, it would ruin my image.
• If man makes it, don’t eat it.
• If it tastes good, spit it out.
• What’s it doing for me?
• Your health account is like your bank account: The more you put in, the more you can take out.
• If one apple is good, you wouldn’t eat 100.
• It’s not what you do some of the time that counts, it’s what you do all of the time that counts.
• Make haste slowly.
• Eat right and you can’t go wrong.

Health law kicks into 2nd gear; does it help me? - Yahoo! News

I have been a strong supporter of the Obama Health Care Plan directives from the start. It's NOT about socialized medicine, it's about doing the right thing FOR the American person. Having the right coverage for everyone is only the start. Every person must also do their part. Each person must do what they can to BE healthy.

I call that "Health Assurance". We tend to "Insure" poor health, which is more reactive. I believe that we need to be pro-active and "Assure" our health by improving our own personal health behaviors.

Simply, as an individual, eating well, NOT smoking, managing stress, becoming more physically active are a few behaviors we can control. 

The other end of the spectrum is to create stronger, protective policies that support the health of our nation as a whole. What I mean by this is that we have to encourage businesses that manufacture, produce, grow, handle our food supply to do a much better job. Our food products quite simply suck. Too many chemicals, too much sugar, not enough natural healthy ingredients. Now that is NOT an easy task, to feed the entire nation.. If it was we'd be doing it. In fact we are doing it with our small locally CSA's.  

We have to do it though. Our survival depends on us doing so.

We also need effective and enforceable policies that protect us from Pharmaceutical companies. Drugs have a place no doubt. But, too many drugs are pushed on eager consumers who really don't need them. Marketers are creating a need that doesn't exist simply becasue of the all mighty (well at one time the all-mighty) dollar.

This Health Law may be financially challenging for some state health plans to cover, but again, it's the right thing to do.

I support the changes, the improvements. More importantly I encourage people to do their part in being healthy. it takes a village to raise a healthy person to paraphrase Hillary Clinton's book

I have always said that when a person gets healthy EVERYONE wins. All except the businesses that thrived on our illness, preceived or real.

This is a nice Q & A Summary of the changes expected.

In health!

Health law kicks into 2nd gear; does it help me? - Yahoo! News