This time of the year is an exciting time for the football enthusiasts in our lives, particularly if their special team has made it this far. It’s something about the process of working hard toward a specific goal and in this case, the ultimate championship: The Super Bowl! In my mind, the sacrifices each team member had to make, the drooling pre-season camps, and the rigorous practices were not in vain if the team succeeded to last this long into the season.
But let’s just say for example you had the misfortune of being a fan of one of those teams, like the St. Louis Rams where the season could have been a lot better. Yes, for the Rams, the year may have felt like a disappointment with plenty of setbacks, however the good news about a losing record is the NFL draft is the “reset” button, that nice button on the remote or computer that allows mistakes to be placed in the sea of forgetfulness. The draft allows unsuccessful teams from the previous season to get first “dibs” on the most promising football recruits for the next season. This process tries to even out the playing field and allows for a “reset” of the play action.
Now let’s compare that to our lives. At the beginning of each year, we promise ourselves so many things. We say that we are going to exercise more, we are going to pray and meditate more, and we are going to be more grateful than in years past. We write these things on paper and in our journals. We profess these things to friends and our clergy. We even join special groups, like Weight Watchers, whose sole purpose is to hold us accountable.
But by March, we have gone astray! What happened? Where did we lose focus? Who or what did we allow in our lives to drive us off course?
When Oprah Winfrey was a child she was molested by various family members, ran away and gave birth to male child at age 14. What if she had given up at that point and told herself that she would never be anything in life? She would have not fulfilled her intended destiny of becoming one of the most successful and powerful women today.
Furthermore, what if Stephen King, one of the most well known authors of our time, had decided to quit writing after his first novel was rejected 30 times? We would not have been able to enjoy those horrifying books like “Carrie and Cujo” and Mr. King would not have amassed such a large financial portfolio.
So as we see, failure is part of the process to success. Our past diet and exercise attempts should not hinder us from trying again to improve our health. I encourage each of us to hit the “reset” button and try again. But this time, let us seek to make lifestyle changes instead of buying the latest cleanse and diet pill that our cousin suggested.
In this technologically advanced society we are in, there is no excuse not to have everything we need right in our hands. Smartphones are amazing! There is an app for workouts, recipes, pedometers and for positive daily meditative messages. Download it today! Hit the “reset” button in your life and let’s try this again for 2016!
Your family doctor,
Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D.
Assistant Professor
SLUCare Family Medicine
yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com
