by Dan | Jan 22, 2017 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Ever have that moment when you would like to accomplish something, and those thoughts in your head start getting in the way, trying to convince you that it can’t be done? I think we have all had those at one time or another, but we need to look past that. We need to quit listening to all of the negativity that our mind will try to produce, and only think of the positive. Here my nurse Chris, and former nurse Susan, just completed their first half marathon. I have written on them in the past. These are 2 people that if I would have told them 10 years ago they were going to run a half marathon, they would have told me I needed medication. They worked hard, they worked and supported each other, and accomplished what they set out to do! They just had to convince themselves that it could be done.
If you can imagine, and then believe, you will achieve! If you convince yourself of this, you are half way there. We tend to be our own worst obstacles when it comes to exercise, and not believing that we can do something. We can! You have to have the belief first, and then keep working on it, and believe it with all your heart.
Sarah and I both try to practice what we preach. We tell our patients all of the time that they have to work on their diet, and exercise. My line is “I am going to keep telling you this until you are not here anymore”! We need to keep working on this for as long as we are alive. Maybe, it will help us stay alive longer too. Life becomes much more fulfilling, adventurous, and rewarding when we do this as well. We have also tried to instill this upon our kids as well. Megan is the swimmer…I still am not sure how she got this, because neither one of us really like to swim. Molly and Nick both run…that they got from us! We can have our fun competition as well.
We can show how tough we are before the race! But what was even funner for me?
Crossing the finish line with one of them! Here I am finishing one of the runs with Molly. Sarah and I are planning on going to Disney again next January. Sarah wants to do the half, I will do the marathon. Megan, my swimmer, says she wants to come along and run the half! I am going to make a runner out of her yet. When she was home over Christmas break, she ran a few times with us at run club. I loved that! We are rubbing off on our kids!
No truer words have been spoken! Never give up on yourself. You have no idea what you can accomplish yet. When that day comes, and we are no longer here, we want to be able to say I did all I could, and lived my life to the fullest. No regrets!
I will summarize with this quote by Mark Victor Hansen.
Believe, and good things will happen! Believe that the greatest gift you can give your family, and the world…is a healthy you! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3404
by Dan | Jan 15, 2017 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
These are my kids coming towards the finish line of the Grandma’s Marathon one year…my official cheerleaders. What a vision that was to behold. But what was even better was when they turned around…the message almost made me lose it on the spot. A vision that definitely left a lasting, forever memory for me! They were cheering me on, and my running. Running had been a big part of my life already prior to then. A quotation by Joel A Barker: “Vison without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” It can certainly change your world. What is your vision? What are you doing to try to achieve it. Exercise has always been a part of my life. I started running when I was in middle school. My older brother got me interested. What helped me the most is that it gave me confidence. I was small for my age, and tended to be a target to be “picked on”. Running brought me into my own…especially when I beat one kid in particular in a 600 meter race in gym class. This particular kid was also one who tended to give me an especially hard time…until I beat him. That day gave me the vision that I could be a success…at running. That running carried on to success in many other aspects of my life, and also helped me decide on my career choice.
Here Sarah and I are one Halloween during the early years of our residency of Family Medicine. We dressed up as doctors…even though we were already doctors! We practice what we preach! Being Family Physicians we spend our whole day convincing people, and their families, how important it is to take care of themselves…to promote wellness and a healthy lifestyle, so they can spend more time with their families, and enjoy life better. It is just as important for us as well. We don’t just tell our patients to do this, we also do it ourselves! We as individuals need to find out what our vision is.
Whatever it is, have a passion about it. What is important to you? And if it is important, what are you willing to do to achieve it? Are you all talk and no action, or are you going to go after it? There will be obstacles, but are you going to let them rule your final outcome? What is important to you? What is your true vision?
You truly can do this! You will have to work for it, but don’t take no for an answer. Work at it everyday. I have been exercising on a frequent basis for the last 40 years, but my consecutive streak of not missing a day is in the process of my 10th year. What is in your future?
In order to figure out your future, you need to have a vision to focus on. A vision that will help you become a better you! A vision that can be as individual as you, because it is for you! And hopefully there will be things to inspire you along the way. Here is what I got to see from my kids coming down the final mile of one of my marathons. First was the “Go Dad Go”, and then when they were screaming for me to get my attention, my 3 kids turned around to give me the true message for that day…
After seeing this, I almost broke down, with less than a 1/2 mile to go. But, I was no longer tired…I was so pumped after this I was flying into the finish line. I was incredibly happy at that point, and not because I just finished a marathon, but because I have a great family. A family that cares about me! They are my vision! They are my life! My vision to becoming something more in my life, and with my life! I find myself looking back at this picture many, many times over the years. It is one of my favorites!
Find your vision, and then never lose sight of it! Ever!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3397
by Dan | Jan 8, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
We all have dreams. The difference for some of us is that it just stays in the thinking process, and not the doing process. We need to learn to convince ourselves that if it is our dream, then we need to go for it…and going for it means we need to work for it. Nothing just happens, at least in real life.
Don’t let your mind hold you back. That little voice in your head that tells you that you can’t do something…ignore it! Listen to you! It may seem impossible, but truly only in your own mind.
Steve had a dream. He wanted to finish a Marathon. After overcoming health issues, he was able to do it. Here we are coming to the finish line of the Disney Marathon! He did it! He achieved his dream. He worked his butt off, overcame adversity, but he never quit. He became better. I was there for support, and as a training partner, and I became better as a result too.
Don’t doubt yourself! Keep pushing, keep trying! Keep focusing on why it is a dream for you, and why you want it.
We just happen to have the hardware to prove it too! I think of this as icing on the cake! It is nice to have, but it is not the reason we did this. The fact that we could…that he could…is what is important.
This was the perfect place to go live out a dream. It really is a Kingdom of Dreams…for everybody. You are never too old to dream, to believe, and to enjoy the things in life that can come by achieving your dreams. How much better you can be by achieving your dreams in indescribable!
So let it go! Dream Big! If it is something you dream of, then start planning on how you are going to achieve it? What is it going to take for you to do it? There is give and take on everything. What is it going to take and what are you willing to give? Only you can decide that.
Do you have the courage? Do you have a dream? What is it? Disney was the perfect place to have this dream fulfilled. Go for it…and become a better you in the process!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3390
by Dan | Jan 1, 2017 | Exercise, Goals, Heart Health, Motivation, Wellness/Health
Time to celebrate! 2016 is done, and 2017 is starting. There may have been things that did not go so well this past year, but you can’t change it. Look upon all of the good things. Make things better for this year. A new year is a chance to bring about a new you!
Every year, people at this time decide upon New Year’s resolutions…only to start out of the blocks strong, and then not follow through with them. Don’t rely on just New Years to make those resolutions. Make daily resolutions, and continue to keep working on them!
Those resolutions can be what ever you want them to be. Remember, you are deciding them yourself. What may work for one, won’t work for another. That is truly what makes us all unique. Decide what is important to you, and then figure out how you continue to work on it to make daily improvements.
What is your wellness road consist of? Do you incorporate changes in your diet, and exercise both? What about taking time to rest, or change the intensity of things to allow your body time to recover. Then there is the ever important aspect of all of this: Taking time to think! Plan what you want, how you are going to do it, and remember you do not have to do this alone. We all need help at one time or another. We can help each other make those daily resolutions reality. But remember to have fun along the way!
Sarah is always along with me, helping to encourage me, inspire me, and spend time with me! Hopefully, I am doing the same for her. You can’t always look behind you though. You can’t change what has been. You can learn from it, and then move on. Keep going, and don’t look back!
The view is always better straight ahead! Take for example with your car…that is why the windshield is so big, and everything in the rear view mirror is so small! All of us have goals, and what we want to achieve. We also all get there a different way, and by different means. When it comes to exercise, there are always events going on… walks, runs, activities. When you participate in these, you are never alone!
It is always better to do things with a group! I admit, there are times when I really do want to run by myself. It is my time to think, process things, and just relax. But, there are times when I love working out, exercising, or running in a group. It is a social activity. What is going on in everybody else’s life? How are they dealing with it? Who do they lean on for support? We don’t have all the answers ourselves. To me, that is what I love about our run club. We may all meet to run, but it is not about running…it is about spending time with friends, doing an activity that we all love to do! It is a highlight of the week! Just remember, it is never too late to start…everybody can start from now and make a brand new ending!
It is never a question of can you, but will you? A quote by James Robson sums things up well: “You can’t be given a mile, you can’t win a mile, you can’t buy or steal a mile. You must earn it, and when you do, it’s yours and only yours!” It means so much more this way! Nobody ever said it was easy, but nobody ever said it could not be fun either! You choose…the decision is yours. Make 2017 a year for a new you!
Happy New Year everybody, and keep moving!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3383
by Dan | Dec 25, 2016 | Exercise, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I always grew up hearing the saying at home: “It is better to give than to receive”. Nowhere is that more important now than during this time of the holidays, and Christmas season. But, this is something we should always keep in mind in our lives. Yesterday our run club met early so we could all still get a run in for the weekend. Normally our run day together is Sunday, but with today being Christmas, it was important for all of us to spend time with family…our main families. We as a run club are like family, but in a different sense. We spend time together, we all love to run, and we have become friends. We all wore Santa or Elf hats to get in the spirit of the season. EVERYBODY wanted to get together Saturday and run…we did not want to miss a weekend. This tells me a lot about the friendship that has developed by a bunch of people who got together because they like to run. In life, some know you…some remember you…some like you…some understand you…but…a TRUE FRIEND does all of these things, and always hopes for the best for you! This is what we have! This is what this group has become! During our marathon training, we worried more about somebody else who was hurt and could not run with us, than we did about ourselves. We worried more about each other, and how each of us were going to do in the marathon than ourselves!
The real secret is to give without expecting anything in return…it is better to give than receive! Our lives are much more rewarding when this occurs!
Paula was going to run her first marathon, and we were going to help her get it done. The Sioux Falls half marathon was a good warmup…here Jill is hugging her in congratulations after finishing! Paula was getting it done, and we were going to help her! All of us had tips. All of us having running stories, workout stories…things that work, and things that didn’t work. Experience goes a long way! I have learned many things from my training partners over the years…
Tom has been at my side for many years! We may not run as much together as we did, but we still do!
Steve, and our memory maker for a life time with doing the Goofy challenge at Disney. After the race, we enjoyed our ice cream and a coke. At that moment, it was better to “receive”…and those treats hit the spot!
…and the most recent training partner group. Here we are an hour before we were going to start the Twin Cities Marathon in October. We had gone through a lot together, culminating on this day. For me, it was not about the run, but the relationships and friendships that running has created…that exercise in general has created! When it comes to exercise, it is really no different than life in general. All of us at some time need some help. And…all of us at sometime can help somebody else! That feels even better!
Remember that, and when you help somebody else out, see how it feels. See the difference you can make in somebody’s life, and how it made them feel. Then realize you are also becoming a better you in the process. This is even more important this time of year.
Merry Christmas everybody! Keep moving everybody, and work on becoming a better you at the same time!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3376
by Dan | Dec 18, 2016 | Exercise, Family, Goals, Motivation, Wellness/Health
I really like a statement made by Matthew Kelly in his book, Rhythm of Life. In it he states: “Greatness is attained beyond the pursuit of our own fulfillment. True greatness is achieved by making a difference in other people’s lives. What moves a person from success to significance? Making a difference in the lives of other people.” We can have help and support from our friends, but it is these same people that maybe we are making a difference to as well. Each of us…making a difference to each other, in one way or another.
We all do different things in our lives. We all have a different profession. But we can all make a difference in what we do, and how we do it. Thank the people around us. Make a difference in their lives, because ultimately it will make a difference in our own lives. Exercise can help us along the way, whether biking, walking, swimming, running…whatever the activity may be. These activities can be a challenge, but they can also help us navigate through the challenges in our lives as well. It can make the difference of being successful or not, or getting things accomplished.
It truly does teach us…it teaches us how to get through tough things that we may face everyday, and can make it a little easier to contend with, or just even helping us get through it, period! At the same time, we choose how we want it to handle us. How do we want it to define our lives? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
One of my previous posts was about choice. We do have a choice, and we can choose how we want to handle it, or how it will handle us. But, as individuals, we can make a difference, not only for ourselves, but for others.
Make a difference. It is not that hard. We need to also make this a habit, a habit that we also do everyday. Make a difference in somebody’s life!
We all have different goals. We all come in different sizes, shapes, personalities. We are all different, but that is what makes us unique. We have the ability to offer something different from anybody else. We all can learn from everybody. Think about it…how many people in this world, and we all have something unique to offer.
How does it feel to be a super hero? Another quote by Matthew Kelly hits home: “Finding our place in the world, finding our place in our local community, and making a difference in our own way all give meaning, purpose, and a deep, deep sense of fulfillment to our lives. We must not only find it for ourselves, but help every individual to find the same.”
For those of us in the Watertown Area Run Club…you know exactly what I mean! And together, we can do it…and we are doing it!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3369
