My Why

It really hasn’t been very long since I wrote about finding your Why.  Definitely not long enough but sometimes there is a topic that I just can’t get out of my head.

This is one of those times.  Oh, maybe it is inspiration and maybe it’s laziness although I’m rarely accused of the latter, but I’m going to talk about it again.

I pulled that old column out in an attempt to not repeat myself but I know that’s going to be hard. In it, I talked about my role as a teacher, a preacher, and a cheerleader. I talked about enjoying life and being positive.

I used that last bit at Camp Blackberry last week. If I started feeling negative vibes from one of the grandkids, I encouraged them to counter those negative vibes with positive vibes. It worked. Sometimes.

Who am I? I am a physical therapist, an athletic trainer, a husband/father/grandfather. I’m a biker and a farmer. But that still doesn’t tell you why I’m here. And after rereading that other column on this topic, I realized that those things are more who I am. My Why is more basic than that.

Now this is about to turn sappy so if you don’t want that from me today, just turn the page.

I’ve always thought that part of who I am is defined by my role as a physical therapist/athletic trainer. But I’ll retire one day, either by my choice or not, and I worry about whether or not that part of me will die. I don’t want to lose that part of me. It’s important to me.

Who I am is so wrapped up in all that. I have great fear that I will lose my identity when that day comes. And it will come. Sooner or later.

I love what I do. I’ll not say that I’m a good physical therapist—I’ll leave that up for someone else to decide. But I am a compassionate physical therapist and when you are my patient, you get someone who truly cares about you, who is truly interested in your best health.

But is that who I am? No, I think that just defines me, maybe defines my role in the workforce. It’s how I serve others. It’s how I’ve served this community for over 40 years.

So let’s get back to my Why.

I believe we are here to love each other and we do that by serving one another. In whatever manner, with whatever skillset that we have.

I believe that we are here to change the world.  That world may be inside your four walls but it may be the universe. I grew up with few having high expectations for me. That’s why I now encourage kids to aim for the moon.

I believe that everything we do should be based on love for each other.

If you’ve made it this far, you may think that I’m about to announce my retirement. Not. Gonna. Happen. Not yet, anyway.

I’m still at work, seeing patients at Total Rehabilitation-Cherokee. You won’t find me on the sidelines of MHS football anymore but that just means that my work week is more sane.

My Why will never change, but eventually, my venue will. And that’s OK too.

Camp Blackberry 2021

It’s that time of year again. Time for Camp Blackberry! We missed it last year over Covid concerns. This year is an abbreviated version for a variety of reasons.

What is Camp Blackberry, you ask? It’s a week in the summer when we have our grandchildren. We hike, swim, bike, do crafts, eat, sleep, and play. We take excursions like the Knoxville Zoo (thank you Mr. Phil) and the Chattanooga Aquarium.

It’s called Camp Blackberry because, well, our name is Black and we raise blackberries so it just seemed logical. We have a camp t-shirt and a logo. We have seven grandchildren but only six can attend. We’re not quite ready for the 18 month old.

We got the idea from Dr. Bob and Sue Ramger, who ran Camp Ramger for many years. I’ve heard from their now grown grandchildren about the memories that were built.

This is the 8^th rendition of CB and it’s a little different. We’ve been at Fall Creek Falls State Park, something we planned to do last year. With vacations limited and our family beach trip cancelled, we wanted to get away for a few days.

It’s a wonderful time and we look forward to it each summer. We are already planning for next year. But where I want to go today is about the role of the grandparent.

I didn’t know but one of my grandparents. My maternal grandmother is the only one that I knew and she died when I was seven. Despite that, I have indelible memories of this proud, statuesque woman. My own children knew all four of their grandparents but not for long enough. Grandparents are important. Not essential, but important.

Grandparents are the ones that get to be concerned only about your happiness. Parents don’t really get to do that. Parents have to worry about grades and performance and behavior and all those sorts of things.

Parents have to worry about getting to practice on time and the character of friends. Parents have to make sure that you are doing your chores, getting what you need to eat, and getting enough sleep. Most of the time, grandparents just get to do the easy stuff, the fun stuff.

I will quickly admit that when I attend the games that my grandchildren play, I’m more interested in it being a positive experience for them. I don’t worry about anything else but that. Are they happy? Are they having fun?

I don’t remember either of those being a high priority when my own kids played sports. I was more interested in hustle and performance. When GK6 was playing t-ball and was told to run for home from third base, I loved that he turned toward the dugout and began looking for his parents (I assume to go home). His parents may not have been as amused by that as I was.

And the officiating….oh my, the officiating. It’s got a lot better since my own kids played. A LOT better. As a grandparent, I worry far less that we just saw a foul or a hand ball. I don’t think twice if someone is offsides or in the lane.

I get that liberty because I have the perspective of old age and thousands of hours of experience. I’m given great latitude to simply enjoy the games because I know that in the big picture, whether one of them wins a championship at age 9 or not will have absolutely no bearing on their ultimate athletic success.

I’m not interested in their team going undefeated or winning the league championship. I’m more interested in knowing that they’re moving, getting better, learning the game. And being happy. As a grandparent, THAT gets to be my first priority.

It's not too late

Now is the time. Yeah, I know…school just got out. But if you aren’t preparing for the upcoming season, then you are already behind.

Oh, there’s time, but don’t waste it.   Every athlete should be running, jumping, lifting weights, practicing their skills. You can’t wait until the season starts.

Actually, you should have your base of fitness already. Your season will be here before you can turn around. Now is the time to fine tune things.

Work on your jump shot. Your free throws. Spend some time on quickness and agility.

Time in the weight room will help you kick harder, farther, more accurately. Especially when fatigue is a factor.

Mileage is important but speed work is too. Everyone is a mix of slow twitch and fast twitch fibers.  You need to work on both to be the best that you can be.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” He was talking about fire prevention in early Philadelphia but it readily addresses health care today. 

Let’s start with overall fitness. We know that more injuries occur when you are fatigued. Think about the last run of the day on the ski slope. The 4th quarter. A track meet and you’re in your last event.

You don’t have to run a marathon (26+ miles) already to run a marathon but you do have to put in the mileage beforehand.  You can’t run a mile and then the next day run 10. Or at least you shouldn’t.

Fatigue may not make cowards of us all but it does make us more susceptible to injuries. You can over-do anything but you almost cannot be too fit.

What does that mean? Our endurance is high. Our muscles are well trained for the task at hand. We are flexible.

I’m not going to blame every hamstring injury on flexibility issues but I there is no doubt in my mind that you can reduce the incidence and severity of a hamstring strain by being more flexibler. Same thing for the Achilles.

Hear this clearly—stretching does not mean a few toe touches and arm swings before your workout. First off, stretching should be done at the END of a workout, not at the beginning. And the flexibility work should be approached like the rest of the workout—well thought out and thorough.

Pat Summit’s Athletic Trainer Jenny Moshak had it right. The Lady Vols would meet on the floor after every practice and game and dedicate time to stretching. You should learn from that.

Two more really important components of training as you prepare for the season are jump training and work on your core. We know that jump training helps to prevent ACL injuries. There is no doubt.

How your foot hits the ground is part of that. You should have that assessed by a professional.

I can never preach too much about how important your core is. Strengthening the hip is another huge component to preventing ACL injuries. The rotators of the hip help to control action at the knee when your foot is on the ground, whether from landing or cutting.

Don’t know what to do? There are good professional trainers out there. Look for one that asks you lots of questions, does a physical assessment of you, and sees the big picture.

Then get to work. Time’s a-wasting.