This weekend I had a chance to participate in "Ride Don't Hide", an annual community bike ride hosted by the Canadian Mental Health Association. The goal of the event is to create awareness about the stigma surrounding mental illness. By working together as communities, the event raises money which allows the CMHA to support mental health initiatives across Canada. I believe 35 Canadian communities hosted events this year.
One of the biggest obstacles encountered by people who experience mental illness is insensitivity from people who don't understand. I won't make excuses for the insensitive, but I will suggest that their lack of sensitivity probably stems from lack of knowledge or "awareness" of how difficult life can be for people who suffer from mental illness. And, by the way, approximately one in five Canadians will suffer from a mental illness in their lifetime.
That is what the Ride is all about. Putting the word out that we should be informed about mental illness, AND that we can raise money to support programs that help people in our very own communities who need it. Mental illnesses are not always visible at first glance, so it is natural to assume that someone who looks "fine" feels "fine". We are not always in the position of knowing that a person may be struggling. And, even if we do know that, we are not always in a position to actually or appropriately help. But we are always in a position to be respectful and considerate to EVERYONE we encounter.
So my advice is this: always be respectful and considerate. By approaching the people in your world in this manner, you stand the best chance of not adding to someone else's misery. By approaching people this way, you may (unknowingly) be the person who turns another's bad day into a not-so-bad day. And what would happen if you were the kind of person who left a trail of happy debris in your wake? What if you were the kind of person who actually encouraged people and made their world a bit better. Now that would be some kind of legacy to leave, wouldn't it?
I'll wrap up with my personal highlight from today's ride which, by the way, was almost entirely completed in the rain. A family entered in the ride and on our way in (about 2km out from the finish), our group came up on the mother and her young daughter. This youngster had been face-painted earlier, so she was already pretty well-decorated. She was riding along on her little bicycle and was pedaling madly along (at a very high RPM). I thought her little training wheels were going to burn right off the bike, but she was motoring down the road through the rain with her mom. We cheered her on as we went by and gradually the sound of the training wheels faded. A few minutes later, at the finish line, we heard the squawk of the OPP cruiser and saw it coming slowly into the parking lot, lights ablaze, and a little girl on a tiny bike with training wheels zooming along just behind. The whole crowd cheered and I felt like I was at the Olympics. This youngster will probably remember that cheering crowd for the rest of her life.
You are always part of the crowd. Cheer for others.
Monday 27 June 2016
Monday 20 June 2016
Happy Father's Day (Condensed)
A radio station I listened to once ran the following contest: condense an entire novel into a short, snappy phrase. It was hilarious and some of the entries were truly brilliant.
In the spirit of that contest, and in celebration of Father's Day, this week's blog is my attempt to honour fathers in the most condensed form:
Talk's cheap. Be a good example.
Happy Father's Day week, dads!
In the spirit of that contest, and in celebration of Father's Day, this week's blog is my attempt to honour fathers in the most condensed form:
Talk's cheap. Be a good example.
Happy Father's Day week, dads!
Monday 13 June 2016
A Lot To Chew On
I think last week's blog on developing a vision was a lot to chew on. My experience is that vision-casting gives you the best result when you take a few (or a lot of) passes through the process. Each pass through the exercise - I mean the vision-casting exercise this time - each pass lets you increase the resolution and clarity of the vision. So don't worry about doing it all at once. Just give it a try and plan to revise it later. Especially in these days of "instant" texting and type-assist, the idea of writing something, then revising (and revising and revising) seems to be so unpopular that it now seems foreign.
I am basically saying that you need to break out of the modern "instant" writing mode and intentionally plan to revise and develop your vision over time. It needs to be flexible and adjustable, so it can fit the twists and turns of your life. What is important, though, is that you START the process. Be realistic and reasonable, but possibly your very biggest challenge will be to actually SEE YOURSELF - as DIFFERENT. When you think of the process of change (personal change), your biggest enemy at the beginning is momentum: you are very possibly in an established pattern of poor habits, inactivity and/or unhealthy nutrition. Your daily routines are established, and they have momentum - they will resist changing speed or direction.
Your first task may simply be to identify and start shaking up your current routines, so that you can begin to gradually change them. I said "gradually" - at least, within reason. If your attempts to change are so radical or uncomfortable to you that you quit, then you will be inclined to give up. So I recommend, once you have determined that you are going to shake things up, that you make small, incremental changes that will let you slowly but surely change your current self into the future, fitter self you have envisioned. Imagine a ratchet, getting tighter one click at a time, but NOT GIVING UP THE PROGRESS MADE.
There you have it. Getting started is difficult. Making changes is difficult. Accomplishing challenging goals is difficult. But all of these things allow us to strive for something better, for objectives we cannot accomplish unless we make ourselves better. My final thought this week is this: your envisioned self should be starting to entice you. It should be calling you toward it. As you develop and refine the vision of your future, fitter self, this vision will begin to sharpen the contrast between where you want to be and where you are now. And THAT contrast should be the fuel that motivates you to change.
I am basically saying that you need to break out of the modern "instant" writing mode and intentionally plan to revise and develop your vision over time. It needs to be flexible and adjustable, so it can fit the twists and turns of your life. What is important, though, is that you START the process. Be realistic and reasonable, but possibly your very biggest challenge will be to actually SEE YOURSELF - as DIFFERENT. When you think of the process of change (personal change), your biggest enemy at the beginning is momentum: you are very possibly in an established pattern of poor habits, inactivity and/or unhealthy nutrition. Your daily routines are established, and they have momentum - they will resist changing speed or direction.
Your first task may simply be to identify and start shaking up your current routines, so that you can begin to gradually change them. I said "gradually" - at least, within reason. If your attempts to change are so radical or uncomfortable to you that you quit, then you will be inclined to give up. So I recommend, once you have determined that you are going to shake things up, that you make small, incremental changes that will let you slowly but surely change your current self into the future, fitter self you have envisioned. Imagine a ratchet, getting tighter one click at a time, but NOT GIVING UP THE PROGRESS MADE.
There you have it. Getting started is difficult. Making changes is difficult. Accomplishing challenging goals is difficult. But all of these things allow us to strive for something better, for objectives we cannot accomplish unless we make ourselves better. My final thought this week is this: your envisioned self should be starting to entice you. It should be calling you toward it. As you develop and refine the vision of your future, fitter self, this vision will begin to sharpen the contrast between where you want to be and where you are now. And THAT contrast should be the fuel that motivates you to change.
Monday 6 June 2016
Vision
A vision could loosely be described as something you see in your mind’s eye. In a way, a vision is something that you have to think up. I believe this can (or should) be a deliberate, mindful process, as opposed to some random idea which just pops into your head. So, to bring the discussion out of the ether, let’s talk fitness vision: a Fitness Vision is how you see your personal fitness/wellness at some defined point in the future. And let’s define a few of those future points so we can get a reasonable sense of change over time. These are completely arbitrary, and you could pick your own points. I chose these to give some higher resolution in the near future and more of a zoomed out look as we look further ahead (think acceleration curve).
1. Today: We all need to start with where we are currently at. We need a realistic appraisal. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. We need that brutally honest evaluation of:
- our basic physical health and readiness for exercise/activity
- our willingness (enthusiasm and motivation) for exercise/activity
- our current physical ability, including our mobility, flexibility, agility, strength, etc.
Whatever we are going to set out to do needs to be reasonably and realistically connected to how ready, willing and able we are to engage in some activity. If you haven’t been active for a while, see a doctor and tell them you intend to become more active – ask if they have any concerns given your current state. This is not your “vision”, per se, but it is the starting point from which your vision of your future “fitter” self is built. It is your push-off-from-here point.
2. One Month: How do you see your activity level in a month? Are you seeing yourself active once per week? Twice per week? Three times per week? This is about how YOU see YOURSELF in a month. Start conservative, but cast a vision of how active you want to be in a month. Once you have established a vision, you can build a plan and then execute it (tune in later for that discussion).
3. Three Months: How do you see yourself and your activity level three months from now? Seriously? If you are struggling to see this (i.e., to envision your active self), you will definitely struggle with making it happen. So be bold, and cast a vision for how you would like to see yourself in three months. Be reasonable, but be progressive; don’t be satisfied with staying at the same one-month level forever. Your three-month vision should extend your reach!
4. Six Months: By six months, it is reasonable that you should be more flexible, more agile, and have noticeably better endurance. Does your vision have you taking on bigger challenges and working toward more substantial goals? It should. As your vision moves further downfield, so to speak, into the future, envision yourself progressively getting better, no matter what level you started at. Keep in mind that, if you are newer to exercise, your goals should be scaled appropriately. “Exercise activity” should gently and gradually stretch you out of your existing comfort zone. Your body will recover on your rest days. Your comfort zone will actually shift upward, so you can do MORE in your comfort zone. Does your six-month vision take into account the fact that you are increasingly able to do MORE activity, with MORE intensity? Establish a vision that includes continuous, steady growth and progress. Fitness goals can probably be increased as you go, because, by this time, you are probably slowly but continuously getting better.
5. One Year: Where do you see yourself in a year from now? Does your vision include you having joined any teams, activities or fitness classes? Are you including regular activity in your daily routine? Do you think about it and plan for it on a regular basis a year from now? And have you made any other healthy lifestyle choices, for example, changing eating habits or leaving behind some less-than-good-for-you activities?
6. Two Years: Can you even see yourself two years from now? Keep the idea of progressively stretching your comfort zone and gradually introducing healthy activities and lifestyle choices into your life. Most people don’t need to radically upend their life, but some do. Prioritize “taking good care of your physical health” and “making healthy lifestyle choices”. If you’re far from these now, your fitness vision may require radical changes. But here’s a thought to ponder: is it ever a bad idea to invest in your own wellness?
7. Five Years: You’re on your own for this one! I certainly can’t tell you what your vision for yourself should look like five years out, but I certainly can tell you that if you HAVE a five-year vision for yourself - and if it’s a good one - there’s a WAY better chance that you will look like your envisioned self than if you DON’T HAVE a vision!
Ancient wisdom says that a vision is so important that people will literally perish if they don’t have one. So my recommendation is that you become a Visionary. Put some thought into this, and develop a Fitness Vision of how you would like to see yourself in the future.
And then, GO FOR IT!!
1. Today: We all need to start with where we are currently at. We need a realistic appraisal. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. We need that brutally honest evaluation of:
- our basic physical health and readiness for exercise/activity
- our willingness (enthusiasm and motivation) for exercise/activity
- our current physical ability, including our mobility, flexibility, agility, strength, etc.
Whatever we are going to set out to do needs to be reasonably and realistically connected to how ready, willing and able we are to engage in some activity. If you haven’t been active for a while, see a doctor and tell them you intend to become more active – ask if they have any concerns given your current state. This is not your “vision”, per se, but it is the starting point from which your vision of your future “fitter” self is built. It is your push-off-from-here point.
2. One Month: How do you see your activity level in a month? Are you seeing yourself active once per week? Twice per week? Three times per week? This is about how YOU see YOURSELF in a month. Start conservative, but cast a vision of how active you want to be in a month. Once you have established a vision, you can build a plan and then execute it (tune in later for that discussion).
3. Three Months: How do you see yourself and your activity level three months from now? Seriously? If you are struggling to see this (i.e., to envision your active self), you will definitely struggle with making it happen. So be bold, and cast a vision for how you would like to see yourself in three months. Be reasonable, but be progressive; don’t be satisfied with staying at the same one-month level forever. Your three-month vision should extend your reach!
4. Six Months: By six months, it is reasonable that you should be more flexible, more agile, and have noticeably better endurance. Does your vision have you taking on bigger challenges and working toward more substantial goals? It should. As your vision moves further downfield, so to speak, into the future, envision yourself progressively getting better, no matter what level you started at. Keep in mind that, if you are newer to exercise, your goals should be scaled appropriately. “Exercise activity” should gently and gradually stretch you out of your existing comfort zone. Your body will recover on your rest days. Your comfort zone will actually shift upward, so you can do MORE in your comfort zone. Does your six-month vision take into account the fact that you are increasingly able to do MORE activity, with MORE intensity? Establish a vision that includes continuous, steady growth and progress. Fitness goals can probably be increased as you go, because, by this time, you are probably slowly but continuously getting better.
5. One Year: Where do you see yourself in a year from now? Does your vision include you having joined any teams, activities or fitness classes? Are you including regular activity in your daily routine? Do you think about it and plan for it on a regular basis a year from now? And have you made any other healthy lifestyle choices, for example, changing eating habits or leaving behind some less-than-good-for-you activities?
6. Two Years: Can you even see yourself two years from now? Keep the idea of progressively stretching your comfort zone and gradually introducing healthy activities and lifestyle choices into your life. Most people don’t need to radically upend their life, but some do. Prioritize “taking good care of your physical health” and “making healthy lifestyle choices”. If you’re far from these now, your fitness vision may require radical changes. But here’s a thought to ponder: is it ever a bad idea to invest in your own wellness?
7. Five Years: You’re on your own for this one! I certainly can’t tell you what your vision for yourself should look like five years out, but I certainly can tell you that if you HAVE a five-year vision for yourself - and if it’s a good one - there’s a WAY better chance that you will look like your envisioned self than if you DON’T HAVE a vision!
Ancient wisdom says that a vision is so important that people will literally perish if they don’t have one. So my recommendation is that you become a Visionary. Put some thought into this, and develop a Fitness Vision of how you would like to see yourself in the future.
And then, GO FOR IT!!
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