Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

When you read this, I will just have gotten back from vacation.  A week at the beach with family. 

When I first went into practice, vacations were rare.  They just didn't quite fit into the budget. 

When the kids got a bit older, we usually went somewhere for a week.  Never more.  We did some pretty cool things because my wife was a travel agent back then.  But heaven forbid that we would take a second week.  Maybe a long weekend now and then.

Since 2005, we've taken an annual vacation with our kids and their spouses and finally their children.  On this trip to the beach, there were 12 of us.  That's been the case since 2013 when we took our preemie 3 month old with us.  We must have been insane that year.

Twelve people.  We've done this enough that we all have our routines and get along amazingly well.  I'm the chief cook (really).  There's nothing I love more than to get up and have breakfast ready for everyone as they rise from their slumbers.  I generally visit the grocery store every day.  These people eat a lot!

Every morning, the kids get up with me and we all try to be quiet and let the "adults" sleep.  Finally, somebody gets hungry and that's when the kitchen gets cranked up. 

With twelve of us, dinner out is a bit problematic so we end up cooking in most evenings.  Again, yours truly is in charge.   Nobody complains.

For me, it is time connect with the family.  I know for a fact that I work too much and am generally gone more than I need to be.  My wife, the saint of the family, is there for everything for those grandkids.  Me, not so much.

Work, career, bicycle, farmwork...I let lots of things get in the way.  But not this week.  They get my all this week.  And I like nothing more than to enable them to have the time of their lives.

I got this idea from Harold "Sonny" Lambert many years ago.  Take everybody on your vacation.  Make it easy for them to go (or hard to turn down).  Let the cousins get to know each other better.

Oh sure, I need a bit of an escape from my normal routine from time to time.  It does me good.  I hardly looked at the clock this week.  We ate when we were hungry and slept when we were tired.  I was barefoot or in sandals almost from the time I left the house until I got home yesterday.

I don't lounge on the beach much when I'm there.  I have a friend whose ideal vacation is to pull a lounge chair to the edge of the beach and read a book while drinking fruity thingies.  Not for me.

As begats my lifestyle, I was always doing something. Oh, occasionally I let my mind roam a bit and I did read a good book while gone. But activity was the order of the day.  You could count the time my backside was in a lounge chair in minutes. 

Usually by this time, I've segued into some point or other.  Not so much today.  What you get today are pointless ramblings about my vacation. 

Or maybe the point is that we all need vacations from time to time, maybe just for different reasons.

Legendary Doctors

I arrived in Maryville on December 10th, 1977, probably 8 hours after graduating from UT-Memphis (the U-Haul truck was loaded and sitting outside the Mid-South Coliseum).  I started my first job as a physical therapist at Blount Memorial Hospital two days later.

So my first job was with BMH.  My last job will be with BMH.  In between have been lots of stories.  You get some of those in this space.

In the late 70's, health care in America was growing, expanding, and becoming more evidence-based.  At BMH there was a cadre of stellar physicians, many of which were nearing the end of incredible careers.

I arrived and was immediately in awe of the medical community.  Legends like Drs. Henry & Jim Callaway, Drs. WW, WC, and Clay Crowder.  Dr. John Yarborough.  Dr. Jim Proffitt.  Dr. Marvin Peterson.

And then Dr. Bob Haralson, Dr. Jim Ricciardi, and Dr. Bryan Smalley at MOC were providing up-to-date orthopedic care.  It's why that after a two year hiatus (I usually refer to it as my sabbatical) in West Virginia, I returned in 1981 to open my own practice.

What I recall most vividly about those physician legends is how they took in this young, green physical therapist who might not always have known what he was talking about and treated him with respect, even seeking his opinion.

The Callaways, brilliant surgeons in any setting, would stop and talk to me and were genuinely interested in what I was doing and what I was thinking.

I have never stopped being appreciative.  Dr. Homer Isbell would sit with me in the cafeteria if I were there alone instead of heading to the room reserved for the hospital's doctors. 

Dr. Haralson opened doors to sports medicine for me.  Dr. Ken Bell and I took opportunities provided to us and ran with them for many years.

So where's all this going?  You never know what influences you have over people.  Kindness and respect displayed constantly yields great results.  Maybe not today, but eventually.

And mentors and role models can be found anywhere.  What those fine gentlemen were teaching me was how it should be done, teaching me how to be the professional that I hope I am today. 

I've complained before about Charles Barkley's statement that he wasn't  going to be anybody's role model.  Well, guess what Chuck...people are looking at you all the time.  And the more popular you are, the more people are looking at you and modeling your behaviors.

Lots of kids, both boys and girls, look up to sports stars.  They want to grow up just like them.  The good ones embrace that responsibility and act accordingly.  The bad ones--well, let's just say that we have to teach our kids how to pick out the good ones.

Sometimes even those will disappoint us but never forget that at the end of the day they're humans too and subject to the real world issues that can impact all of us.

So lest you haven't realized it yet, regardless of your setting--a hospital, school, or sports arena--little eyes are watching you.

Good Health is for Everyone

I'm always talking about how to be healthy and lots about sports and sports injuries.  But what if you don't really consider yourself an athlete?  What if you're older?  Or have medical problems?  Where do you fit in all this?

Let me tell you about several folks that fit in to all this stuff about health and wellness and fitness.  I'm only going with first names (maybe even fake names) but these are real people.  I mask their identity a bit because I want you to identify with what they're doing, not with who they are.

Let me tell you about Bo.  He's 73 and has had more than his share of health problems.  His movement is slow and deliberate but every single day, he's doing something active.  He's doing it to combat the ravages of age and disease.  I think he's winning the battle.

I'd also like to tell you about James.  I still consider him an athlete.  He has probably slowed down but he still maintains a very active lifestyle, biking, running, strength training.  He does it for his own health and so that he can continue to take care of his wife, who is confined to a wheelchair.  If he's not there and not physically able, what's to become of her?

And in his words, "as long as I can continue doing what I'm doing, it will keep me from depending on someone else for help." 

And Mae.  81 but doesn't look it at all.  Long ago retired, she doesn't fit the mold of who you would think would be a regular in the gym.  But even on days when she doesn't visit the gym, she is active, walking and leading a full, busy lifestyle.  I'm convinced her time in the gym allows that lifestyle.

John is a pickleball player.  At 74, he flies airplanes, travels, and generally does pretty much anything he wants to. 

And then there's Randall.  A powerful man at 84, he tosses around weights that I won't even touch.  Another gym regular, he isn't seeking to reclaim past athletic glory as much as he is maintaining a piece of his persona. 

Oh, and he is missing his left leg.  It's been missing now for 80 years.  Hasn't slowed him down much.  I would still match him against a lot of younger people in a lot of things.

So what's the point?  Aren't these just the gym superstars, people who are blessed?  Not at all.

An active lifestyle is available to anyone that puts in the effort.  And it can be life changing at any age.

It's not just for those that have been active and fit all their lives.  One of those above smoked for 60 years.  Another stayed drunk for 6 straight years one time.  Yet, they figured it out.

So what's it take?  You've got to see your primary care physician.  They have to give clearance for anything like this that you want to start. If you've got medical issues, get them fixed.

I would suggest that you see your physical therapist, who can help you with any issues like flexibility, posture, and biomechanical issues that might become injuries down the road.

You've got to dedicate yourself to it.  If you think about it, you've got more time for all this once you retire.  That means fewer excuses.  And it really is never too late to get started.  Just ask all of those that I mentioned. 

Oh wait...you can't.  They're in the gym or in the mountains hiking or whatever else they want to do.

New Beginnings

The little tree behind my clinic is emerging from winter's slumber. Beyond the bud stage, new leaves are starting to unfurl.

I've written about this tree before.  I park my truck next to it when I come to work each day.  It really doesn't seem to have grown that much but I guess my perspective is different, watching it every day.  I suppose that if I looked at a photo of it from 5 years ago, it would seem to have grown a lot.

Such is life watching things grow when you're looking up close.  I just know that I enjoy this little tree.  It has enough fall foliage to be colorful and enough branches to hold a little bit of snow in winter.

But in the spring--oh my.  That is when it is my favorite tree.

Many of us just celebrated Easter last weekend.  The holiest of Christian holidays, in many ways it represents renewal and a new beginning.

That's what I think about when I look at my little tree.  The renewal of life and the perpetuity of our world.  Life going on.

I don't want to sound all melancholy but this is my first Easter without a parent.  It's a bit of a strange character.  I now am the oldest generation in my family.  The patriarch, I guess. 

If you keep your eyes open, you will see signs of renewal and opportunity everywhere.  My little tree and some special time spent with my grandkids reminds me of that renewal, be it spiritual, physical, emotional...you name it.  It seems synonymous with spring.

We just finished spring football practice at MHS.  It's a new team and a new head coach.  Maybe this is my formal goodbye to George Quarles.  He will always be a friend and I will miss him greatly.

But Derek Hunt is now at the helm and I'm not sure I could be more excited about a football team.  You'd think that by now I would be getting tired of this stuff but it hasn't happened yet. 

It's a new team, a new season, and really a new coaching staff (although the people are the same--the dynamic will be different).  Isn't that true for every team everywhere?

I think it's one of the most exciting things about high school sports.  And maybe part of the reason coaches coach:   The chance to grow and mold young people and then to see what they can do on the playing field.  Renewing the process each and every year.

I'm sure that same sense of renewal and opportunity is present in all of our schools.  It's truly fun to watch kids grow up and change and become young ladies and young men of talent and ability when before they might have been only potential.

And those that you might never have thought would contribute to the team--those might be the most special of all.  A new season and a new team means that they have a blank slate...that they have the same chances as everyone else. 

Isn't that awesome?!?  I'm excited to see what the kid that languished behind a star can do when it becomes his or her turn.  

Stay tuned. 

I will.

The Best of Times

I attended a birthday party for my high school football coach not too long ago.  I told you about that.  Attending were many of the football greats that he had coached.  Someone speculated that those high school football days were the best days of their life.

It caused me to start thinking.  What has been the "best of times" for me?  And what made it so?

I remember being in kindergarten (I really do!) and loving everything about it.  It was in the basement of the Methodist church and the crafts and teachers were wonderful.  Even then, I loved recess. 

When I was eleven, I remember loading up in my new Boy Scout uniform and heading off to Camp Buck Toms.  I thought that was the greatest thing ever.  I loved everything about it.  I failed the swimming test because I thought the lifeguard was telling me to stop so I stopped (even then, I was a rules follower).  I redeemed myself by winning one of the swimming competitions later. 

Thirteen was special.  At the time, I thought the world most surely revolved around me.  I was finally a teenager.  Girls.  Sports.  Band.  Hanging out with friends.  Surely that was the best of times.

But then I turned sixteen.  I could drive!  Oh. My.  Goodness.  I didn't think life could get any better.  I had an old jalopy (you might have to look that term up) that we paid $55 for but I didn't care.  It was my key to freedom.  Get in it.  Turn the ignition.  Drive to the A&W.

And football.  Football became the other center of my life (along with a little farm girl from Philadelphia).  And we won the state championship that year.   I didn't think life could get any better than that.

Then I went off to college.  When I talk to young folks today, I tell them that college will change them and change their life more dramatically than anything they had ever experienced.  Some thrive.  Many struggle.  Thanks to some important influences, I was one that thrived.

Oh I didn't do great at first.  I was more interested in football, girls, and having fun (see a trend here?).  But knee surgery helped me figure out life and ambitions. I finally "got" this college thing.  I started dating the girl of my dreams and knew almost immediately where I wanted my life to go.  The best of times?   Surely.

From then on, things seemed to blur.  Life has flown by.  Kids.  Career.  Grandkids.  Experiences and people and things that were beyond my wildest dreams.

I've heard both Coach George Quarles and Coach Gary Rankin tell their young charges after winning one of the many, many championships that they had won "don't let this be the best thing you ever do."

I left that birthday party thinking yeah, those were really great times.  And it was great to catch up with so many friends--friends that I hadn't seen or talked to in many years.  But was that really the best time in my life?

Yeah, it probably was.  But so was everything else in there.  All the experiences and adventures that have made up my life.   I'd like to think that today and every day is the best day of my life.  At least that's my goal when I wake up in the morning.

How about you?  What is going to be the best thing you ever do?

Sometimes you've got to accept doing poorly

"How do you do it?"  Do what?

"All these things you do.  Like work and bike and write your column.  All that stuff."  I don't know.  It just gets done.

"I know, but you've got to have some advice for me.  I'm just getting started and I'm really overwhelmed."  OK.  Well, maybe.

First, turn off the television.  "No way.  I can't do that.  It's the only time I see my wife."  That sort of answers itself.  Uh dude, you can do better than that.

Is there really something on TV that you can't live without?  How many reality shows can one man stand?  And Bachelorette?  Really?

"But you're forgetting about sports.  I've got these sports packages so I can watch something 24 hours a day, on 10 different stations."  Do you really need to be watching the World Series of Tiddlywinks?  And you can hardly spell pentathlon, much less know what events are in it.

If memory serves me correctly, you watched the luge championship one time and then rode your kid's sled down the hill, into traffic, and then crashed into a tree.  Two surgeries didn't cure your interest in luge?

And then there's sleep.  Nobody needs to sleep until noon.  "I was up late."  Yeah, I know.  Binge watching MASH reruns really shouldn't be on the agenda.

I'll admit that this is the category that I fail on.  I don't get enough sleep.  No doubt.  I know that the research tells us clearly that we need more sleep.  It's just that I've got too much to do. 

"I've heard you brag about exercise all the time.  Your dadgum bicycle and all that.  There are just days that I don't want to exercise."

There are days that I don't want to exercise either.  But most of the time, I do it anyway.  It is part of my lifestyle.  It's part of who I am.  I do it because I want to be healthy for many more years. Right now, it's working pretty good for me.

It takes discipline (at which point my friend groans loudly).  And persistence.  And a loud alarm clock.

"OK...but back to the big picture, please."  Well, you've got to prioritize.  It is important to know what is most important to you.  You've got to have a plan.  Know what you want in life and understand what it takes to get there.

Some days it's important to knock out all the little tasks first and then move on to the most important big task.  Other days it helps to get all the easy stuff out of the way before you go to the harder stuff.  And sometimes it works best to tackle the hardest thing on your list first.  In other words, you've got be flexible. 

And one more thing.  You've got to be willing to do some things poorly.  Those are the things that are least important to you...that are lowest on your priority list.  I mean, I've seen your yard.  Mowing and trimming seem to be pretty low on your priority list.

"Yeah, if it's green and growing, I'm fine with it."  There you are.  You're already on it.  Good luck with the rest of it.

Eat That Burger!

My wife and I were sitting around, the NCAA Men's tournament was on TV, it's about 8 o'clock but I had my computer cranked up and was working (I'm always working, according to some) but then a burger commercial came on.  We had eaten a rather early dinner so when I saw that burger, I said to my wife "I could SO eat a burger right now."

Keep in mind that I don't eat many burgers.  I eat smart most all the time.  So we decide on which burger we really want and leave the house, now well after 8 PM to go get a burger.  We talk and laugh and consider how silly it is to be headed out this late just for a burger.

We talk about retirement and grandkids and all those things that people that have been married 40+ years and still like each other talk about.

And then the next morning I skip my workout (not to sleep in, mind you) and I'm OK with it.  That's unusual in that I'm usually most certainly NOT OK with missing a workout.

But you know what--I was OK with all of it.  It was very much outside my normal routine.  Those that know me know that I'm dedicated.  Dedicated to a healthy lifestyle.  Dedicated to a variety of pursuits.  Doggedly persistent.

And that's my point for today.  Life is meant to be enjoyed.  We are blessed with a beautiful, interesting, mysterious world and we owe it to ourselves to be in it.

I know one person that wouldn't let a gram of fat pass her lips if her life depended on it (it might, but not the way she thinks).  Not me.  I'm not afraid.

I admit that I don't really tolerate idle time well.  I have a friend whose idea of the perfect beach vacation is to pull a chair to the edge of the water and read a book.  All day. 

Not me.  I need to be doing things.  Paddleboarding.  Snorkeling.  Building sandcastles.  Chasing grandkids.  Do I enjoy it more?  Maybe.  I feel like I'm immersed in the experience rather than sitting  watching it pass by.

I spend a lot of my time around teenagers.  Teenage athletes mostly.  Right now, a lot of them are experiencing "senior-itis," ready for their senior year of high school to be in the rearview mirror.  I caution them not to let a moment go by without savoring that moment.

Just can't stand to sit in one more high school classroom?  College, for all its glories, is still harder.  Those high school teachers will work hard to hold you accountable in the classroom.  In college, not so much. 

Much later, when you're reminiscing about your favorite teachers, you probably won't think about a college professor.  (You'll probably remember that teacher that believed in you.)  No disrespect for college professors, their job is simply different.

Still in sports?  Practice seem hard and goes on forever?  Can't help you much there.  Just take it from someone that has been in that place many times over many years--it's OK.  You will wish for those days again one day.