From the Editor

I’m writing this while sweating profusely on an elliptical machine. Some of my best ideas are formulated while I have an elevated heart rate. And one of my favorite pastimes—people watching—takes place at this time also.

One of my most memorable people-watching episodes happened many years ago while doing what I am doing now: sweating and trying to keep my heart rate around 135 beats a minute. Between glancing at my vital signs monitor and watching the highlights of the previous night’s football game on the television, I observed a young man running on the treadmill in front of me. He was doing a pretty good clip, and I thought of how nice it would be to be young and pain free.

About ten minutes into his run, two young ladies around this young man’s age entered the room and took up running just a couple of treadmills down from him. I observed him glancing their way numerous times, trying to catch their eye. Since he was having no luck, he decided to try something different. While still running on the treadmill, he started to take off his shirt so that maybe his muscular physique would catch their eye.

I knew exactly what was going to happen. While his shirt was somewhere between his shoulders and head, he lost his balance from stepping on the side of the treadmill (the non-moving part) and instantly fell forward on the machine. He went down hard, and the treadmill spit him out against the elliptical machine behind him. His chest was on the ground, his arms and hands in front of him, and his legs were bent upwards resting on the machine that had stopped him.

Amazingly enough, he did manage to get his shirt off during the incident, but unfortunately, the catastrophe was not over. Through adrenaline and sheer embarrassment, he jumped to his feet as quickly as possible (most likely hoping that the two young females hadn’t noticed) and decided to get back on the moving treadmill like nothing had happened. Yep, you guessed it! The same thing happened again with just as much uncontrollable flailing. Of course, the boy knew he had ruined his chance to make a good impression. The two girls, in fact, felt so embarrassed for him that they quickly left the room.

By this time, I had stopped my machine and rushed over to see if he was injured. Somehow, the only injuries he sustained were some floor burns and a severely bruised ego. After helping him up, the only thing I could say to him was, “I hate it when that happens.” He didn’t think I was funny.

So, what’s the point of this story? It’s this: you should not be worried about what other people think about you, especially when it comes to your health. Most likely, those around you are thinking about themselves and don’t even have you in their purview. Quit hanging back, concerned that others might think you’re too out of shape, too inept, too inexperienced, too anything. Workout to get more healthy, to feel less stressed, and to increase your positive feelings about yourself. If you are worried about impressing others, you are never going to be as happy and as healthy as you deserve to be. Take care of yourself and your health, and that way, you can help take care of others.

Enjoy the season,

Brendan Dalley, Editor