Many of you who read my blog may know my background. If not, read here: http://lifeonlybetter.typepad.com/about.html.
Throughout my career I've always tried to educate the world about how important it is to be fit for the reasons of my own story and also how being fit has helped so many others.
I have another stellar example of how being fit has saved me once again.
Several months ago as I was looking 40 in the face, I decided that it was time for me to bump up my own fitness routine. Just like the rest of the world, work and life can sometimes get in the way of our workouts.
I committed to stepping away from my desk a minimum of three times per week to work every muscle in my body. I felt fantastic!
One morning about four weeks ago I woke up and couldn't move my neck or my right arm. Here you'll learn a little about my tendency to be "accident prone". After breaking my back in 1996, I had two auto accidents in 2000 & 2004, where I had whip lash and minor bulging discs in my neck.
So this recent episode we can call the straw that broke the camel's back. I was already at risk for further neck injury and then one morning, after not doing any heavy lifting or anything unusual, I can't move my head or arm.
For the purposes of this post, I won't bore you with the details of the process of decisions of recovery from this episode, however I will share with you that if I had not been fit my injury would have been much worse.
More than that, I've not been able to exercise to my full capacity since then. And here's the big "ahhh" moment. Because I'd been exercising prior to this injury, the rest of my body has not fallen apart due to my limited activity. And, I've not gained any weight.
So the moral of the story, which is the mantra for which I chose fitness as a career, is that fitness is critical for your quality and maintenance of life. If you experience injury or illness or debilitation, you will not only survive but recover quicker and maintain your existing physique and quality of life much better than if you were not fit.
You have only one body, one life. Taking care of yourself will allow you to live a full, happy life, despite any accident or injury you may encounter. I'm living proof.
