Over the years, we have all gone to school, and we have all learned. But, we need to keep learning. Nobody knows everything, and once you learn something, then you need to teach someone else. This same thing applies when it comes to exercise. We have all tried things, different activities. There are certain activities we may like more than others, but we learned this by trying it. And, if we see other people trying it as well, and it is not working for them, we can teach them what we already figured out too. Even more important, we can teach what does, or did, work.
This is a great summary, and oh so true! And by continuing to teach, we ourselves can learn even more…more about anything…diet changes, exercise changes, lifestyle changes…even changes in life in general! There may have been times in the past where we had a lot to learn, and felt overwhelmed, and never would you ever think you would be able to get all this, much less teach it to someone else.
That is what medical school did for me! Here I am at the end of the second year of medical school, just getting ready to take my first Board exam. All of this on the table was just the summary review material that was going to be covered. I will never forget that time. The amount of material to know was staggering. But, it set the foundation for the rest of my life…and now I am also teaching it. By teaching it to someone else, whether other students, residents, and patients…I know and understand it even better now. But, it is also more enjoyable as well.
There are always things in our past that we may not like to think about, or would rather just forget. But we also learned from those experiences, and now can pass that information on to someone else. Nowhere was this more true than this past year when many of us were training for the Twin Cities Marathon with our run club. Those of us running it are in the top picture. For one of us, it was her first. I had the most at 12 marathons. All the rest of us had experience, and we all shared our ideas on what the experience was like for each of us. The biggest part of all of this was we all had something to teach, and we all had something to learn. I am still learning, but have to admit from Paula what I learned the most from her, with this being her first, is that overall excitement and enthusiasm you have when it is the first. You need to make each event, race, workout, whatever it may be, seem like the first, and go at it with excitement, adventure, and fun. We should even change the name from exercise to “enjoyable physical activity”. The more enjoyable it is, the more we are going to do it.
How is this for excitement? And with all the different levels of experience in this picture when it comes to running, we all have something to learn, and we all have something to teach!
Inspire someone. Teach someone. And in the end, it will not only change them, but you!
Don’t ever forget this! Life is full of adventure. Stay active. Take care of yourself. Teach someone what you know, and the same will be returned to you many fold. Enjoy life and all of its adventures! Become a better you, and teach someone about you and your experiences…your life! We are all unique and have something to share! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3432
