Happy Men's Health Month! (It's also National Safety Month, National Dairy Month, National Candy Month, National Papaya Month, and National River Month.) No better way to celebrate than at the Y, eh?
Getting older makes you appreciate the small things of life. I'm probably more comfortable in my own skin than I've ever been and would take 71 any day over the uncertainties of my teen years. Life is all about becoming. The only real tragedy is to not move at all. This is probably why so many of us men find it so hard to grow older. As we age, we morph into a caricature of what we once were. To use a mountaineering metaphor, rather than climbing higher, we find something to hang on to. This is one reason I love exercising so much. You become a lot of things when you work out, be it at the gym or in the pool or on the trails. You become fitter, stronger, faster (maybe), and healthier than you were before you became active. Of course, activity is often accompanied by discomfort. But this discomfort reminds us that we are alive. We leverage exercise to help us shake off the things in our lives that are holding us back from growing.
If you're a man reading this blog post, maybe you can use Men's Health Month as a reason to think about your own life. As someone who is probably older than you are, my advice would be to set your sights ahead. No, don't forget where you've come from, but remember that where you are is the first step to becoming what you want to be. Each step takes you closer to your destination, but no single step does it. Find your rhythm, continue to set big goals, and work hard to achieve them.
God bless you as you chase down your health goals!