by Dan | Dec 6, 2015 | Etc.
It is time for a new series. I am calling is Staying the Course–Success in Life. I am pointing at you! Yes, all of you! This will apply to everybody, including me. Each post I will have a inspirational quote, and one particular area to discuss. Those particular topics will include the following:
Determination; Passion; Conviction; Drive; Intensity; Purpose; Discipline; Fortitude; Endurance; Control; Persistence; Empowerment; Happiness; Risk; Confidence; Knowledge.
I will see what order I take each of these in. All of the topics will discuss things as to how to live your passion, stay focused, set goals, and above all, have fun! To take control of our destiny, we must take control of our thoughts. Whether we think we can, or we think we can’t, we are right! We need to work for the positive thoughts, not the negative ones. This applies to not only staying active, and taking care of our own health, but sets the tone for creating Success in Life!
A quote by the famous Gandhi: ” Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behaviors. Keep your behaviors positive, because your behaviors become your habits. Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your destiny.”
Life can be an uphill battle at times. You decide whether you want to lead, or follow. You make the decision. You are in control.
Sometimes the path ahead may be difficult to see, and you may have to really focus and concentrate to get to the other side. The stress and pressure of every day life may seem like things may be piling on top of us, or things keep closing in on us, and we don’t feel like we can’t handle it all.
Keep your head up, and keep looking forward. Sometimes the path may seem long, and may seem like there is no end in site. Again, the one constant in life is change, and we have to learn to adapt to change, and take it for what it really means—potential for more opportunities, more adventures, more experiences in life to encounter. No 2 days are the same, so enjoy the ride! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2991
by Dan | Nov 29, 2015 | Etc.
Thanksgiving is a great time to be spending with family. It is also a good time to sit back and realize everything you have, and what you are thankful for. Bottom line, it does not matter what possessions you have, but the people in your life. Family tops the list, as you would do anything for them. A good line from the movie “Cheaper by the Dozen”, one of the kids in the family describes the relationship she has with the rest of her siblings. “There are times when I want to kill you, but there are more times when I would kill for you!” If you can’t depend on your family, then you really don’t have anything. Money can’t buy this. The time you spend with them is priceless. The bad part is that time goes by really fast! Don’t waste it on trivial things. Those insignificant things are much easier to replace. This picture was taken at the Turkey Day 5k a few days ago. My son Nick made it home from college, and ran it with us. My daughters were not able to make it home for this, but Molly came later that day. Megan won’t be home until Christmas. There is already that empty feeling at holiday times like this when everybody is not home. When you do get everybody together, you need to really make them count. I think my twin daughters have grown even closer by being apart at different colleges. It is fun to see their interactions when they are both home. Here they are together when Nick graduated in May.
Of course, there are the friends along the way. Below is one of me and Rich Kranz. We were getting ready to do the Turkey Day 5k as well.
We work out multiple days a week at Anytime Fitness in their Fun Fit program. It is quite the workout. I am out of my realm in this, and he helps push me to do better. Running is out of his realm, and I have been helping to push him. He has been running with me aRun Club on the Wednesday’s at 5:30. When we started, he could not finish one mile. We have gradually kept increasing it, and he has done several 5k’s now. His goal has been to break 30 minutes. Prior to Thursday, he had not done it. But this time, he ran 29:30! Amazing Rich! Way to go! Now it gets easier from here! There is nothing like other people to help push you to achieve your goals. Strong friendships develop out of all of this as well. That is why I like the run club so much. Again, here we are, doing what we love to do, motivating each other.
So, take this time to sit and think about what you are thankful for, and appreciate it that much more. The bonds of friendship and family are stronger than anything. We can’t always accomplish goals in our life by ourselves, and that’s when we need to rely on those people in our lives. After all, for me at least, the reason I am trying to do all this activity is so I can be around longer to be able to spend time with them. Have a good holiday season coming! I am preparing for the next segment of topics that I am going to be writing on…just trying to get it organized so as to make sense…especially to me! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2984
by Dan | Nov 22, 2015 | Etc.
Over these past few months I have written about my experiences with exercise, and in particular, running. It has been a great time for me as well reliving these memories, and going back through all of the pictures. This will be my final installment of the “In It For The Long Run” series. I have some ideas for some new areas to write on.
No where is it more true when it comes to exercise of any kind, that the hardest part of it all is mental. Trying to convince yourself that you can do it. For me, running has taught me to keep moving forward, one step at a time, especially in the most painful moments of my life. It truly is about life’s experiences, and how you as an individual can deal with it. One of my true idols, both as a runner, and as a physician, is Dr. George Sheehan. I have written on him in the past as well. He was a cardiologist by trade, but was an avid runner by choice, and helped set the running boom back in the 1970’s. He has some great quotes, and this one in particular is one of my favorites. “Success means having the Courage, the Determination, and the Will to become the person you believe you were meant to be!” Right on! Words to really focus on , and live by.
Running has taught me so many things. My favorite is that it really is my time to think.
Life moves along at a fast pace, and sometimes you need to sit down and relax, and just spend time thinking, and looking at what is all around you. And, thinking and appreciating everything you already have. That is what running does for me. I can forget all of my problems…it is just me…soaking it all in. It has taught me how to find strength; to remind myself I am strong; to be a positive influence to my family, and my patients; for friendship; because I enjoy a challenge; to get fit with my family, and have even more special family bonds and memories; to deal with life’s challenges; to be the best version of myself; because I’m ALIVE!
Remember to slow down, take the time to “smell the roses”! We all take for granted things in our life, and can go on and on and totally miss out on what is right in front of us! We have all done it, me included. Appreciate the little things in life, because in the end, it is what makes things big in our life.
Enjoy the things in life right in front of us. Don’t take anything for granted, for one day we won’t be here anymore. Help pass that point of motivation on to everybody else you come in contact with. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying everything in life is just “peachy”…we all have setbacks, bad days, challenges in our life. But what defines things more is how we handle them. How do we adapt and overcome. Our biggest obstacle is our mind, and if we truly believe we can, we are halfway there with everything in life.
We all truly need to work on making the Rest of Our Life, The Best of Our Life! Never give up on yourself. If you can’t depend on yourself, it makes it that much more difficult to depend on someone else! I hope all of these posts help hit some points home for all of you reading them. If you have any particular areas you would like me to discuss, let me know! Just remember, keep moving everybody! Stay IN IT FOR THE LONG RUN!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2977
by Dan | Nov 15, 2015 | Etc.
Last month Sarah and I traveled to Baltimore to do a race. Sarah did the Half Marathon, and I did the Marathon. It was the 15th Anniversary of the Baltimore Running Festival race. We had never been to Baltimore before, or Maryland for that matter, but it made for a quick stop off as we went out to go see our daughter in school, who is a 50 minute drive in Fairfax, Virginia. The weather was perfect for running, started off in upper 30’s, and finished in the mid 50’s, but boy, were there hills! We both were not quite expecting this, and were not as ready for this as we would have liked to. But it was great going to a different state, and experiencing the life of a big city. We found out though that we appreciate where we live even more!
The start line was at the Baltimore Orioles stadium, and the finish line was at the Baltimore Ravens stadium, which is right behind me on this picture. This was the day before when we were at the running expo, and got to look at lots of new running gadgets, clothes, and just overall, new ideas. The medals were very impressive as well!
Every marathon, and even every race we have done, has brought with it unique experiences that make each one special. The medals also provide memories to last forever. Every race has its good points, and bad points, but it is pretty safe to say, the good outweighs the bad. Here we are at the end of each of our races, getting our medals.
Those wraps are wonderful when you are chilled. They definitely help keep you warm afterwards.
It was a fun event for the 15th Anniversary of the race. There were over 3,000 people in the Marathon, and over 21,000 in the Half Marathon!
Here we are getting fired up the day before at the Expo. Behind us is a wall where everybody got to sign their name. We can now chalk Maryland off of out list of states that we have run in. This is on our bucket list…to run in every state. It does not have to be a race, but just to run. So far I have hit around 30 states. I need to see what time will bring, and what events we can try and hit to make it more interesting. It is another goal in my life…and we all need goals. We need to be working toward something that is a challenge to us. When we do this, the accomplishments mean so much more. Just remember to have fun doing this. It should not be another means of stress, or pressure to feel like it is something we have to do. It should be something we “want” to do. Life is full of experiences, just waiting for us to participate in!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2970
by Dan | Nov 8, 2015 | Etc.
Running has allowed me to meet a lot of new people over the years, and a lot of people have become good friends. We all like to stay active, and in particular, we like to run. This story is in regards to the Watertown Area Run Club–WARC! We have been going now over 3 years, and we gradually keep growing each year. This one is our original group, and we are all celebrating after a race at Fargo, where we either did the Half Marathon, or the Full Marathon. Tom Beaudry, Jill Makepeace, Steve Arbogast, Jackie Burghardt, Steve Hauck, Sarah and myself.
We encourage each other, run with each other…we care about each other! Over the years now, we have gradually kept increasing people who have started to come.
Here Owen McElroy is joining. We also will tend to run in almost any weather. I had one exception this year–it was pouring rain out. But there still are plenty of times when we deal with the rain as well.
Here Paula Nurnberg is joining us. The one thing to keep in mind, is that we have fun! It is a social gathering, a time to talk. We learn a lot about each other, and the run goes almost “effortless” with conversation. But, we are runners! We are different. Sometimes people think we may be crazy for what we do. But I think that could be the furthest thing from the truth. Look how excited we are getting ready to run!
But above all else, we show support of each other, and truly are interested in how each other does. It is like an extended family. Here we are showing are spirit at the 4th of July run this year, with Jen McElroy, and future recruit, Kate McElroy.
We have a lot of fun over the Summer, and we have even been going yet, as long the snow holds off. Our thoughts, as long as we are going to run anyway, then we can keep meeting. Spread the word…it is a social gathering, not a competition.
Here was also new member Jennifer Jensen, who has since moved away at the end of Summer. But we are smiling, just happy to be out running! Whether it is running, walking, biking, or other activity…as long as you are moving, the benefits far outweigh the risks involved. Give it a try! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 2963
