Think Of Yourself As An Athlete

Joe Montana was an football athlete. Michael Jordan, basketball. Gordon Ramsey is still a chef athlete. And you are an athlete. Maybe not a professional one, but still, an athlete. And here’s why, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary: an athlete is a person skilled or trained in exercises, sports, or games involving strength, coordination, and speed.

A mom who lugs two sacks of heavy groceries up three flights of stairs is an athlete. It is an exercise involving strength and balance. A husband who pushes his wife in a wheelchair has arm strength. A dad who coaches his kid’s soccer team runs up and down the field. They are all athletes.

If we have established that you are acting like an athlete, then start thinking like one. It will change your concept of yourself, in a good way. An athlete moves. He, or she, concentrates on the physical demands needed and produces skill, strength and agility, whether it’s backing into a tight parking spot, gardening for three hours, or walking the dog.

An athlete is active. A sedentary person is not. Sedentary people sit more than they stand, they slump with rounded shoulders and a forward head position, and sleeping is their best activity.

Are you active, or sedentary?

Being an athlete is a mind set. We determine how we see ourselves. We talk to ourselves all the time. What are we saying? Are we active, able to do whatever we choose, not afraid of jumping and hurting our ankles or knees? An active person sporadically takes the stairs instead of the elevator, occasionally walks instead of drives, doesn’t need a chair to wait in line for the rock concert tickets. They are used to standing and moving around. Because they see themselves as active, not sedentary. An active person is a moving person and an athlete, and still has choices in life. Statistics say that active people live longer than sedentary people. Let’s start moving more.

That’s Aging Intelligently.