"Never give out while there is hope; but hope not beyond reason, for that shows more desire than judgment."– William Penn
Darn it! Linda and I continue to have symptoms from the colds we acquired on our Mexican cruise last week. Neither one of us neither likes to be sick. These colds are a surprise for us since we have been pretty healthy. So, I called Laura this morning to tell her that we still had symptoms and did not think it would be good idea to host Saturday’s birthday -brunch run. It's ok though because Secretariat said he and Debbie will host this year. What is also difficult to do is to rest and drink liquids, as opposed to exercising and running on the trail. This cold might interfere with participating in the January 1 New Year’s Resolution Run held Auburn. For the past two years, Secretariat and I have entered the 10 mile. He has already entered, and I am going to wait to see what happens to my symptoms before registering.
Within the past 2 to 3 weeks, we have lost two men-one older and one younger. On top of that, the wife of one of the men who passed recently spent three days in the hospital. Feeling sick, and witnessing the frailties that exist allowed me to pause and think about my mortality. On top of that, I read an article titled “The Future of US Healthcare” in Monday, December 12, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
The article pointed out that because of increasing health care costs, doctors, employers, and health insurance plans are encouraged to take a more direct approach in assisting individuals to make lifestyle changes. There are financial incentives for doctors, insured, and employers to make changes. Making lifestyle changes is a good thing and an economic motive seems to be the catalyst. I think that can be a good thing.
The NFL has a “Play 60” program designed to get kids involved in physical activity. Portland’s “Let Go” program reported on an earlier blog is demonstrating progress in their program. For those of you who may not remember, this program involves the schools and families to adapt its 5-2-1-0 message. Translated this means eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables, get two hours or less of screen time, get a least one hour of exercise and consume zero sugary drinks daily. Compared with year 2007, parents reported that their kids went from 16% to 26% in year 2011 as far as eating the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables. The children improved from 38% to 45% with their daily recreational screen time-two hours or less as well. Good job parents, as you are the key. Hopefully parents are incorporating the same message for themselves.
Returning to health, wellness, exercise, nutrition, and mortality let us incorporate Erik Erikson’s model. His eighth and final stage of psychosocial development is called “Ego Integrity vs. Despair.” Of course, looking at his epigenetic chart in his life cycle model, this final stage is associated with maturity. One hopes to develop maturity and integrity. It is difficult to develop integrity without maturity, and vice versa. However, physical well-being or wellness has to be part of the equation. The more physical and emotionally healthier we are, the less likely we are to find “ despair “as we live out the rest of our lives. The choice and options are certainly clear. Hopefully, more of us will incorporate the message.
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