Pointe Claire QC–Often when people discover I have managed to lose a serious amount of weight, they want to know if there’s a secret to overnight success.
When I explain that I’ve been cycling for eighteen months, have altered the way I consume food, and carefully ensure I put in 90 minutes of exercise every day rain or shine, they want to know if I’m on a cookie diet.
It seems much easier for some people to accept that eating a package of diet cookies each and every day would somehow lead to lasting overall physical fitness.
It’s a funny thing.
I hear the same thing from corporate and government leaders who want to know how another entity achieved a meaningful level of emergency preparedness.
Was it a special plan? How can we do the same thing? How quickly can we make it happen? Can we be ready for that storm whose clouds are currently gathering on the horizon?
It always seems to be somewhat of an epiphany when I explain that a true culture of preparedness can be achieved by each and every community on a grassroots level simply by mapping out where you want to go and then figuring out what you need to change to get there.
A friend of mine, Jim Stephens, wrote these words to me as we discussed our respective efforts to achieve and maintain the delicate balance that comes with mind-body fitness:
“Change is for those who Want it, not for those who Need it. It is a miracle that sometimes occurs. If you could figure out how to put it in a bottle you could retire tomorrow.”
It is a process. You need to want to make the change and then you need to surround yourself with a scaffolding that will provide support, guidance, education, encouragement, and political will as each is required. It is not rocket science or neurosurgery.
Or you could eat a special cookie or two or three.
Be well. Practice big medicine.
