Make Decisions, Not Resolutions

OK.  It's New Year's Eve.  I know that a lot of people are going to make resolutions.  New Year's Resolutions, that is.   It's an annual thing.

Most of the time it is to do something with improving your health.  And most of the time it is a resolution to get more exercise.  That and to eat better. 

Gym memberships skyrocket in January.   Lots of resolutions and good intentions.  And those same gyms that are packed in January and early February (gotta look good for Valentine's Day) are empty of those newbies by March.

There's lots of other things too.  Sleep more.  Spend more quality time with your kids.  Finish that project that you've started too many times.  Quit smoking.  Be kinder, gentler.

Well I want to suggest that you don't make resolutions.  Ever.  I want to suggest that you simply make decisions.

A decision to be healthier.  A decision to do whatever it is that you should be doing but aren't.  Or that you are doing but shouldn't.

I have heard it said by lots of smokers, "you will quit when you decide to."  Not when you promise yourself on New Year's Eve to do it.  Not when you make a resolution that has little chance of surviving cold weather.

When you make a decision to make a change in your life, you're going to do it.  Make a decision to make a lifestyle change and you will do it.  There is no turning back.  There is no empty gym in March.

Make the decision to take better care of yourself.  You've heard it here (too many times, probably), make sure that your primary care physician, whomever he or she might be, knows you by your first name when they run into you in the grocery store. 

Make a decision that you're going to exercise.  Regularly.  Five days a week.  Build it into your schedule.  Build it into your lifestyle.  It's just what you do.  You deserve it.

Make a decision to eat better.  Eat more vegetables and fruits. Especially more green leafy vegetables and things like broccoli and brussels sprouts.  Make sure your meat is lean and know where it comes from. 

Make a decision to end those bad habits.  Smoke?  Quit.  Make the decision.  Other bad habits?  Be honest with yourself and admit that they aren't good for you and then make the decision to stop.

Make a decision to stop and smell the roses.  Seek more laughter, more long walks, more hugs, more sunsets,  more dreaming, more fun, more love.

Need to lose weight?  Make the decision to do the things that will help you get your weight under control.  Don't be unrealistic.  As for all the weight loss plans, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  It's often more journey than destination.

If you ate your way into 2017, walk your way out of 2018.  Happy New Year!

Giving Thanks

It is time to give thanks.  Yes, I realize it is Christmas Eve and not Thanksgiving but what better "reason for the season" can we have than to give thanks?  So here goes.

I'm thankful for Coaches everywhere. Coaches give so much to the growth and development of our children, gifts that don't always get acknowledged.  The hours are awful.  The pay is not enough to register.  Good coaches do it for the kids.

I don't know a single coach that puts winning above the welfare of their young charges.  Maybe in days of old, before we knew better, but not now.  Oh, they're probably out there.  But they don't live or work in this backyard.

And teachers.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  What an underappreciated group of people.  They sometimes are trying to teach young folks things that they don't want to learn.  Imagine how difficult that might be.

Maybe if all the classes were about video games, texting, smart phones, and social media, they could get 100% attention.  Yet, the learning of things that we don't find interesting teaches us HOW to learn.  And that is a life skill that is essential. 

So thank you to all teachers and especially all the teachers that put up with my shenanigans (except for maybe that English teacher that insisted that I learn to properly diagram sentences).  And God bless those teachers that teach things like Physics and Chemistry that few students find compelling.  They may someday realize how important that stuff is.

Thank you to preachers everywhere.  We rarely think to tell them thank you for doing all they do.  We need the moral compass that comes from someone spiritually connected, who is willing to share that connection with us.  They're not perfect and once you realize that, you will probably be able to learn more from them.

A big thank you to those in health care.  Yeah, I know that's a bit self-serving but it's true.  Thank you to physicians in particular.   It used to be that they were the best paid people around.  Not so true these days.  Most of them could make more doing something else. 

Most of the doctors that I know do it because the work is rewarding.  Because they want to make a difference in the world.  Because they have a skillset that can help people be healthier.  And the difficulty in getting paid for what they do (paperwork, insurance regulations, people making reimbursement decisions that have no idea what the patient needs) be darned (this is a family newspaper, after all), they do it anyway.

Thanks to the farmers.  Without them, we wouldn't survive.  I don't know too many of them that are in it for the money either.  And the hours?  Ridiculous.  There basically aren't any hours--there is always something to do.  A friend that was getting her chickens to the market recently worked 30 straight hours.  And then the price she got for those chickens wasn't what it should be. 

It doesn't deter her. She probably dismissed it as the price for the lifestyle she chooses to lead.  Working on a farm, raising her own food and enough to sell to help pay the bills.  I often brag that I "live on a farm" when all I do is raise a few vegetables and some berries.  Real farmers allow the rest of us to live the life we want to.

I'm thankful for good bicycles, Benton's bacon, a truck that starts in the morning, good restaurants, and the fact that I don't live in Atlanta.  

And a big thank you to the kids that I work with that keep me young, grandchildren that remind me what life is all about, and a wife that tolerates the roller coaster that living with me must surely be.

Yes, Tennessee, we have a problem

Did you know that Tennessee is the second most medicated state in America?  I'm not talking about illegal drug use (although we're pretty darn high in that category too).  I'm talking about medications for legitimate medical problems.

Part of that is because over 65% of Tennessee adults are classified as obese or overweight.  There are a lot of health issues that are the result of obesity.  Heart disease.  Stroke.  Some cancers.  Gallbladder disease.  Joint problems.  High blood pressure.  Sleep apnea.  Diabetes.

Oh, and about diabetes--did you know that over 10% of Tennessee adults have diabetes?   And that over half of those could be eliminated with weight control and lifestyle changes?

So before I get started on the mother-of-all prescription drug problem in Tennessee (Opioids), let me admit that I am on three prescription drugs, which place me in the top 23% of American prescription medication usage.

I take two blood pressure pills and a Statin.  More on that in a minute. 

If you read this space regularly, you know that my lifestyle is good.  I exercise pretty much every day, ride a bicycle 3-4 days per week, eat mostly healthy, and visit my primary care physician, my gastroenterologist, and my dermatologist regularly.  I do most of the things that we know to do to stay healthy.

But as for the blood pressure thing, you can only run so far from your genetics.  High blood pressure runs in my family.  Broadly and deeply.  I have very few relatives that aren't affected.  My mom and dad for sure.  My grandparents, probably.

In my 40's, my blood pressure was already running in the range of 140/90.  Not terribly high but I guess I just couldn't believe it was happening to me.  I have always been hot pursuit of good health, beginning as a child of five when my dad had his first heart attack. 

So I ignored it.  After too many visits to my primary care physician where my blood pressure was too high but I scoffed at that because surely it must be a fluke, he insisted I get medicated for it.

Which indirectly leads to that Statin thing (a recent addition).  You see, I have a rather significant level of atherosclerosis.  Plaque lines my arteries.  We used to call it "hardening of the arteries."

Part of that is probably due to ignoring high blood pressure for too long.  The other part is that darn gene pool of mine.  Either way, Statins have been shown to help with that.  And a cholesterol level that has creeped up as I've gotten older.

So here I am.  Testimony to the fact that even the most vigorous, seemingly healthy among us needs to pay attention to medical care, not just the healthy part that is exercise and diet but doing what we should do medically.

As for those Opioids--Tennessee is among the country's worst in Opioid use.  The statistics are hard to track down because it is such a widespread epidemic.  I'm going to write more about this later but let me just add a couple of scary statistics.

Oxycodone prescriptions would have supplied every adult in Tennessee with 21 pills in 2016.  And Hydrocodone prescriptions would have provided every person over 12 in Tennessee with 51 pills. 

Yes, we have a problem.

And The Survey Said...

A group of college athletes were asked the question "what's your worst memory from youth sports?" The most common answer was "the ride home from a game with my parents."

Those same athletes were asked what it was that they wanted to hear.  Overwhelmingly they said "I love to watch you play."

Are you that parent?  I was.  Until the day when I was sitting with my son, probably telling him what he did wrong at football practice that day or at least telling him what he should be doing. 

I played football.  I coached football.  At one time in college I was trying to decide if I wanted to be a doctor or a football coach.  I've been around the game in one fashion or another since I was in the 3rd grade.  That's...well, let's see...naught from naught is...well, that's a long, long time. 

But when my son said "I've got 10 coaches and one dad" I changed forever.  Forever.

 I spoke to a group of parents just before the just ended football season.  They were expecting me to talk  about injuries and how our sports medicine system worked and all that but the best advice that I had for them was "be their parent.  Be their mom and dad."

Just think about it.  If you remember those days of travel ball and Little League and gyms and games galore, what do you think might be your child's best memory?

The travel?  The friends?  The uniforms?  Probably those and more.  The ice cream after a game.  Being part of a team.  And yeah, winning a big game or a championship or something like that. 

It probably won't be the day they finally started finding the strike zone because of their pitching coach or the hours of practice or the time in the weight room.  Those are sometimes necessary ingredients but aren't likely to be anybody's best memory. 

Now think about what might be their worst memory.  Maybe it was you telling them everything they did wrong on the way home from the game?  Or you talking about what an idiot that the coach was for (A) not playing you more or (B) not calling the right plays.  Or maybe it was (C) complaining that the referees stole the game from you, (D) criticizing your teammates, (E) how the other team cheated.  That list could go on forever.

What they want to hear is "I'm proud of you."  Or maybe "you did well."  Or like the #1 answer on the survey said "I love to watch you play."

Because what YOU will remember is not how well they played or what play the coach did or didn't call.  You will remember the experience of sports with your child in it.  Maybe it is simply watching your child do something that you wish you had done or wish that you had the ability to do.  That's OK.

You will enjoy watching your child grow and change and learn to play on a team and be a good teammate.  If you let yourself, you might be amazed that the child that can't find the clothes hamper at home listens intently to a coach and does all that they ask.

If you just enjoy the games and not see them as the ticket to a free college education or a professional career, you might find that your son or daughter gets tons more joy out of playing those games.  And becomes better, happier adults because of it.