Running Your Own Race

If you have ever read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, you know that Howard Roarke 'ran his own race.' He was deaf to critics - not trying to win them over - just honoring his conscience and doing what he felt was right. He ran his own race. Wouldn't our world be better off if more people lived with this as their mantra? Are we all just too worried about what others think? Of course, this theme can be taken too far and become destructive to mind, body, and soul. I think we all have seen that scenario play itself out. That's not what I'm talking about here.

Life is a series of votes - votes that are made for or against us and votes we make for or against others. All these votes have consequences for us: who we choose as friends, who we choose as our spouse, where we live and work, what kind of fashions we wear, etc. It takes an amazing amount of fortitude to live a life like Howard Roarke. Because of this strength of conviction, he probably didn't have any sleep problems or bouts with depression, either. Are we creating our own circumstances or are circumstances defining and directing us? After years in the gym, which incidentally might be the best sociology lab anywhere, I get a kick out of trying to figure all this stuff out. We are funny, fascinating, and strange creatures...that's for sure.
by Chris Scully

'What Makes People Happy?'

This was a very cool segment from the ABC News show "20/20." If you have a few minutes read through the article and gain some perspective.


http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=4087250&page=1

Honoring Commitments

It seems as though commitments aren't really commitments any more. Financial promises such as loans or contracts have become lukewarm "I will if I can" declarations and not "I will" promises. RSVP's have become "I got the invitation and will attend if nothing better comes along." Arriving to work on time, getting to your dinner reservation on time, returning phone calls, not blowing off your trainer, etc. have all taken a back seat to "me" initiatives like "I'll do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it." But the thing that gets me is that the biggest examples of this selfish non-discipline are with people's health. The same people whose self-discipline is lacking in the stuff mentioned above often are poster children for the National Institutes of (non) Health. Straight lines are many times better than operating in some kind of crazed non-pattern of individualism that proves nothing more than how unreliable and unprofessional one is! If you look at any team or any individual that has ACCOMPLISHED in their lives, they all have had one thing in common: concentration. They only took their eyes off the ball when it was "okay" to do so but never for very long. So let's all keep our eyes on the ball and keep our commitments....especially to ourselves!
by Chris Scully

What has the iPod done to us?

I'm certainly as guilty as the next person of "tuning out" while working out. But the iPod has done something to me (and everyone else) that really changes the gym dynamic: people don't talk to each other much any more. Back in the day, the old Walkman was too bulky to really make it convenient to do every exercise while listening to cassette tapes. But nowadays, the iPod is so small that the most cumbersome part of the gadget is the ear buds that weigh only a couple ounces. There isn't anything we can't do with an iPod hitched securely to our person! I even toyed with getting one that allows you to view video but I'm resisting just so I don't become even more of a prisoner to all this technology! All the old school stuff that I loved in my youth has been invaded by technology. I just got back from golfing and if your golf cart doesn't have a GPS in it, you must be playing some kind of bogus city course! The gym I worked out in as a kid had the local rock station playing at decibel levels unsafe to all humans and now we play satellite music at a comfortable volume so as not to disturb the throngs of iPod users casually going through their workouts! All the cardio equipment will soon be iPod compatible so the BIGGEST LOSER in the gym will be the art of conversation! Maybe I should pitch an iPod Heart Monitor with an alarm that rings in your ears when your heart rate stays too low during your workout? Some of these folks are really tuning out so much that their biggest workout is song selection and not the exercise at hand! Oh well....
by Chris Scully

Fun Facts about Vanilla

• Burn your tongue on pizza or other hot food? Put a few drops of vanilla on your tongue to ease the pain and soothe the burn.
• Love the flavor of chilies but can't take the heat? Sweet neutralizes heat: add some vanilla to soften the bite but bring out the sweetness and flavor of the peppers.
• Have problems with spiders living on the underside of the furniture? Add a vanilla bean or two to your furniture polish. Apply to both sides of the furniture. Bugs don't like the smell of vanilla and will leave.
• House paint smell too strong? Add a tablespoon of vanilla extract to a gallon of paint to help cut the smell.
  
• Want to settle a nervous stomach? Add pure vanilla extract to mineral water or apple juice.
• Want to soothe jangled nerves? Place vanilla beans in a bottle or jar and use as aromatherapy. Sloane-Kettering and other medical facilities use the vanilla aroma to calm patients undergoing MRI and CAT scans.
  

Coffee: The New Brain Fuel

Go ahead. Have another cup. As it turns out, drinking coffee daily may be the key to staying sharp as you age. According to a recent study that followed more than 7,000 people in France, women who drank three or more cups of coffee each day were 30 percent less likely to have a decline in memory than women who had just one cup of coffee per day or less. While this might make you want to Dash to Starbucks, experts recommend keeping your daily caffeine intake to no more than four 8-ounce cups per day.

from article in Health.com