February 29 - Our "Extra" Final Day!

February has come and gone - well, in a few hours it will be gone (including this year's extra day). It was a busy month, as usual, but I managed to meet my target of 10,000 Kettlebell swings on Wednesday, so today's workout will just be extra icing on the cake. And one more day of sore-ish hamstrings. At least I'll get to finish watching The Emperor's New Groove.

I hope you have had a challenging and rewarding February, and I hope you were able to feel successful in your efforts to take on a wellness challenge. Beyond today, I really hope you will feel encouraged and motivated by the fact that some basic planning and a bit of commitment can take your "I wish I were more... [fill in your own blank]" and turn it into "Hey - I AM more... [fill in your own blank]."

Part of our challenge here is to prod you to stop just wishing and talking about being more well, and to actually get out there and EXECUTE. Try something. Do something. Fail to reach a goal (well, fail trying, not just fail because you did nothing). I really believe that many of us want to be different, but we struggle to do what is required. We want change, but we resist the process of change.

So, I will reference the workout poster in my basement, inspired by my younger brother...

I want to encourage people to improve their wellness. And to do that, I have to be honest to say that improving your wellness does not have to be gruelling, but it does require at least some level of determination, motivation, persistence and the ability to track along toward a goal you have set for yourself.

So I don't have a lot of sympathy for the excuses we make for ourselves (hence my poster), but I have all kinds of best wishes and support for the efforts we make on behalf of ourselves - the ones aiming us toward personal improvement.

This year, I trust that the wellness challenge - whether you swung kettlebells, did pushups or plank, did more walking in nature, got out to socialize more, or whatever you decided to do - I trust it pushed you a bit out of your comfort zone and caused you to make those micro changes that, together, make up actual change.

Stay tuned for the next post on the hospital foundation fund we encourage people to donate to. It supports research into Parkinson's Disease.

I will have one or two more wrap-up posts following that as we wind down the 2020 edition of the 10,000 Kettlebells for Parkinson's challenge.