Waking Up

A lifelong athlete, personal trainer, and physical education teacher himself, I wanted to honor his enormous contribution to my life, and expand on the example he set for me by helping others.  

Marking the date also prompts me to wake up, to remember the preciousness of life, and that our time here is not forever, and not guaranteed.  

The mortality lesson hit home for me recently.  I nearly lost my dad last month, very unexpectedly.  Thankfully, he pulled through!    

How much time do we have left?  No one knows.  At first glance morbid and unhealthy, contemplating the “absolute certainty of death” can inspire taking on life more fully!*  

When we act like we’re going to live forever, we often make poor choices.  We eat and drink like teenagers, pretending our actions have no consequences. 

We skip today’s workout in favor of a fresh start tomorrow.  Acting like we will live forever, we leave a mess in our homes for our kids to sort out when we pass.  We leave a trail of tears for the next generation.  

We don’t live or love deeply today.  We don’t commit.  We live in a spaceship on autopilot and, meanwhile, the years go by, hardly noticed. 

Lifestyle diseases creep in and strangle our vitality.  Around us, our friends and loved ones die too young.  

It doesn’t have to be this way!  We really can champion the second half of life.  The good news that our hearts still beat, gives us this moment, now, to begin. 

With the next breath, the next thought, the next choice, the next plan, we bring the authorship of life back to our hearts. 

We can choose to step up our vitality through cultivating presence and caring for ourselves.  We can cultivate mindset, exercise, diet, and recovery strategies to create the best versions of ourselves. 

We can inspire one another, and the next generation, with what 50, 60, 70, 80, or beyond, looks and feels like.  With energy and enthusiasm, we can take on big causes that we care about, and leave a lasting legacy.  

Let’s wake up, believe in an inspiring future, and walk into it together each day.  This is our time, and, if you are reading this, it’s not too late!  Let’s do this!  

Recommended reading:

*The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counter-intuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, by Mark Manson.  He explores how contemplating the absolute certainty of death can give our lives tremendous meaning.  

**How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self, by Nicole LePera, the holistic psychotherapist. She explores how to stop living life in an autopilot “spaceship” by coming into the present moment through breath, the senses, and integrated self care practices.