Ouch.

Yikes. 

That's all I can say at this moment...I've fallen off the running wagon, fallen off the blogging wagon...essentially fallen off the "me" wagon. I really had no idea it's been so long since I last wrote a blog entry, which also speaks to getting enough exercise & sleep, too - every week seems to go by faster and faster lately.  Now that it's officially my "23rd" birthday (ok, ok that was 13 years ago, but who's counting?), I've decided to put more focus back on to "me" and taking care of the one and only vessel I was so blessed to have been born with.  Nothing sums it up much better than a few words written by a man named Mike Boyle entitled,

"One Body":

Who'd be stuck with this little gem?

Imagine you are sixteen years old and your parents give you your first car. They also give you simple instructions. There is one small hitch, you only get one car, you can never get another. Never. No trade-ins, no trade-ups. Nothing.

Ask your self how would you maintain that car? 

My guess is you would be meticulous. Frequent oil changes, proper fuel, etc. Now imagine if your parents also told you that none of the replacement parts for this car would ever work as well as the ori ginal parts. Not only that, the replacement parts would be expensive to install and cause you to have decreased use of your car for the rest of the cars useful life? In other words, the car would continue to run but, not at the same speed and with the efficiency you were used to.

Wow, now would we ever put a lot of time and effort into maintenance if that were the case.

After reading the above example ask yourself another question. Why is the human body different? Why do we act as if we don’t care about the one body we were given. Same deal. You only get one body. No returns or trade-ins. Sure, we can replace parts but boy it’s a lot of work and it hurts. Besides, the stuff 
they put in never works as well as the original “factory” parts. The replacement knee or hip doesn’t give you the same feel and performance as the original part.

Think about it. One body. You determine the mileage? You set the maintenance plan?

No refunds, no warranties, no do-overs?

How about this perspective? One of my clients is a very successful usinessman. He often is asked to speak to various groups. One thing he tells every group is that you are going to spend time and money on your health. The truth is the process can be a proactive one or a reactive one. Money spent on your health can take the form of a personal trainer, massage therapist and a gym membership or, it can bemoney spent on cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and 
plastic surgeons. Either way, you will spend money.

S ame goes for time. You can go to the gym or, to the doctors office. It’s up to you. Either way, you will spend time. Some people say things like “I hate to 
work out”. Try sitting in the emergency room for a few hours and then get back to me. Working out may not seem so bad. Much like a car, a little preventative 
maintenance can go a long way. However, in so many ways the body is better than a car. With some good hard work you can turn back the odometer on the body. I wrote an article a while back (Strength Training- The Fountain 
of Youth) that discussed a study done by McMaster University which showed that muscle tissue of older subjects actually changed at the cellular level and looked more like the younger control subjects after strength training.

Do me a favor, spend some time on preventative maintenance, it beats the heck out of the alternative. 

Just remember, you will spend both time and money.

Thanks to Nick Pfaff for finding this and sharing...I hope it resonates to anyone reading this - you've only got ONE body.  Whatever stage of life you're in, no matter your circumstances...it's critical to take care of YOU.  You're the only YOU you'll ever get!

Happy 4th!

Linds