Fit for Life: Start Living Your Best Life Now
Saturday, October 06, 2018
I was listening to the radio yesterday and the song “Cats in the cradle” by Harry Chapin came on just as I was pulling up to work, so I stopped, turned up the volume, absorbed the words and got a little glossy eyed while sitting in my truck. Then once the song ended, I immediately called my dad.
If you are not familiar with the song, it’s about a guy that missed his son’s childhood because he was busy all the time, but the son kept insisting “I’m gonna be like you dad”. Then when the guy retires, his son is too busy to spend time with him, so as it turns out, the son was “just like him”, and life had passed them by.
The moral of the story is, if we are not proactive with the things that mean the most to us, it will be too late in the end. You can’t turn back time and say should’ve, would’ve, could’ve and things will be ok. Because they won’t.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTSo, are you a proactive or reactive person?
Do you visit or reach out to the people that mean the most to you, or do you wait for someone to get sick or something bad happens before you make the call?
I happen to be close to my family, and see them all the time, so I have no regrets on that level, but many people do.
You may have had an argument and stopped talking to someone you care about, but is it really worth it?
You may have moved far away, or are too busy to reach out regularly, so when something happens, you go into reactive mode, and wish you would have been better at communicating, or a better son/daughter/sister or brother.
It hurts much more when someone gets sick or dies, and you were on bad terms, holding a grudge or didn’t enjoy their company or spend enough time with them.
The good thing is that it’s not too late and you can make a conscious effort to spend quality time with the ones you care about.
Stop waiting for a disaster or catastrophe before you act.
Start being a more proactive person instead of reactive and your life will have less incidents of stressful, or regretful situations.
Don’t wait for the first snow storm before taking your snow blower in for service (I did last year, and I shoveled a lot!).
Don’t wait to get robbed before you put an alarm system in your house. (also guilty of this one)
Most importantly, don’t wait to become overweight get sick or forced to be on medication before you start taking care of yourself.
I see this on a daily basis.
People come to me because they let themselves become overweight and out of shape that they take several types of medication, suffer from painful arthritis, and are in fear for their lives.
Don’t let it get to this point.
Start doing something for yourself TODAY, or you will eventually find yourself in a hospital bed.
The holidays are coming, so we are running a 6-week challenge @ Providence Fit Body Boot Camp starting Monday, so folks that want to be proactive and drop 10-20lbs before the eating season starts, have an opportunity.
If you are one on the masses, you are going to indulge on Thanksgiving and then let your nutrition spiral downhill until the end of December.
Then Jan. 1 you wake up in a reactive panic and make some bottomless resolution to “get back in shape”.
But this never happens and the weight and sickness creeps up and sets in.
The good news is, this is all avoidable if you try to be proactive with your lifestyle and prepare yourself, so you don’t need to be reactive when something inevitably bad happens.
You don’t need to go to extremes and build a fallout bunker in your backyard, just start doing small alterations to your lifestyle, and avoid pending doom by being proactive.
Remember life is short, and it’s not a dress rehearsal, so there are no re-takes or do-overs. Start living your best life now and add some quality to your years. Reach out to the people that mean the most to you and take care of yourself.
Committed to your success,
Matt Espeut, GoLocal's Health & Lifestyle Contributor has been a personal trainer and health & fitnesss consultant for over 25 years. He is the owner of Fitness Profiles, a one on one, and small group personal training company, as well as Providence Fit Body Boot Camp, located at 1284 North Main St., on the Providence/Pawtucket line. You can reach Matt at (401) 453-3200; on Facebook at "Matt Espeut", and on Twitter at @MattEspeut. "We’re all in this life together – let’s make it a healthy one.
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