Here are the top ten new year’s resolutions according to about.com. Is yours on this list?
- Spend more time with family and friends
- Fit in Fitness
- Tame the Bulge
- Quit Smoking
- Enjoy Life More
- Quit Drinking
- Get out of Debt
- Learn Something New
- Help Others
- Get Organized
So many of us look to the new year with a resolution in hand. We want to reclaim the body we have let go, re-attend to the proper management of our resources, re-unite with the people we have let slip away. We want to stop over-indulging and address what we haven’t been taking care of.
Statistics say that less than half of us will be successful, come June.
Imagine with me what new year’s 2013 would look like if we didn’t need to make a new year’s resolution? What if we attended to our health all year long and prevented the need to lose weight, made a regular place for fitness, had a regular date with family or friends, didn’t engage in behaviors we knew were unhealthy and added behaviors that were?
What if we practiced prevention all year long? Out of gratitude for the lives we have been given and the bodies (one per person!) we have to live them in. Practicing prevention is SO much easier than making restitution.
What if we passed this practice along to our children?
I come to the end of this year very aware that health can be fleeting because not all injuries are preventable. I learned that in a big way when I slipped in the mud on the playing field and ruptured my hamstring tendon. Surgery and 8 months of rehab and recovery later, I am getting back in action. And I am more grateful than ever to have the use of a strong, fit, coordinated body.
So I start this year re-newed. More ready than ever to get health and fitness into our homes and our schools and onto our playing fields. With thanks to the One who mended my hamstring and has me up and running again.
Subscribe to Fit2Finish or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to find out how you can do fitness with us all year long. Happy new year!
It’s so true that we often don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone or threatened. How often do we hear, ‘if you’ve got your health, you’ve got everything.’ Absolutely true! Thanks for your posts, Wendy. Keep up the good work in 2012.
Thanks Brenda. And I know the folks you work with would absolutely say the same thing. Accidents happen, but doing everything we can about the health practices we can control is essential. I call it good stewardship for the gifts we’ve been given. Looking forward to a great 2012!
A fellow older athlete with knee issues once said to me, “Remember what it was like to be able to JUST RUN?” Having experienced my fair share of downtime over the years due to an ACL rupture and other injuries, I knew exactly what he meant. Simple joys, often taken for granted. Keep helping parents and kids appreciate the best of what sports have to offer us!
Thanks Jeff. I just had a long conversation with a 21 year old who plays for Vanderbilt. She is recovering from her 3rd ACL – the first on “this knee.” She intends to come back again and still has her eye on playing pro in Europe. She says, “yeah, my left knee is already shot. arthritic changes. getting lubricant shots every three months.” These young people are going to pay the price for years to come but somehow the cost is not prohibitive. Makes me sad but determined. There are alternatives to running :), but let’s save those for us older folks, eh?