“You gotta be ready.”
The situation at hand has escalated really quickly. We went from thinking, oh this is “just the flu” to “oh wow there is no way to stop it from spreading” in a matter of days. People are worried about the “what ifs”. Worried toilet paper will never be produced again. Worried about a health care collapse, worried about businesses not surviving the quarantine, worried about loved ones with compromised immune systems...
All of which are very real worries not to be taken lightly even by the healthy or financially stable population. People want to “fight” back, but right now the only way anyone is talking about is social distancing, which for sure will help slow the spread. But that is not the only way, and I think this situation sheds light on one factor many have been overlooking for some time. What about what you do now to build up your own fortress, your body?
I can’t help but think of my best friend’s struggle these past 5 months. Kellar is fighting breast cancer. She is as we speak having surgery to remove all cancerous tissue out of her body. She has completed 16 weeks of chemo, caught pneumonia, recovered from pnemonia, and is (literally today) now having a double mastectomy, all the while this pandemic of coronavirus is
happening. Talk about crazy timing.
So I’d say stopping the spread of anything is near and dear to me. I want my friend to be around well past when we out live our husbands and carry on crushing workouts and have our coffee-introversion-time on our porch when we are 80. You know those type of friends you can,just sit with and not feel like you have to fill the space with chatter? That is Kellar. She is an easy friend. Just like a sister. I love her dearly.
As I sit here thinking about her now and all she has been through, and then thinking about the pandemic, I keep going back to a video message she (on a whim) recorded in her car in the Walmart parking lot. It was a few days before the Challenge was about to start up and, of course, people were waiting until the last minute to sign up.
We are always surprised by the amount of people who wait until the last minute. In our case, people wait until the last minute to sign up for our program, but people wait until the last minute to do anything. It is only by pressure (or force) that they finally make the decision that should have been made way too long ago. Nothing makes you more productive than the last
minute, right?
What if we were people who were proactive rather than reactive to our situations?
Kellar’s message that day will stay with me forever. It is so raw and full of truth.
She said, “Life happens and you gotta be ready. I don’t know where I would be if I did not already live this healthy lifestyle before my diagnosis. I feel like trying to start living a healthy lifestyle in the midst of this storm would be impossible. Now is the time. Don’t wait until your storm hits you. You need to take control now.”
You gotta be ready for when that storm hits.
Because at some point in your life you will hit a storm. And how you ride out that storm is determined on how well you have built your fortress. We have talked long about how we can not imagine how other people feel going through this same situation without having the habits in place and health already built up. I’ve seen how Kellar has ridden out this storm, and it is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
Well, the whole world is simultaneously hitting one big storm together. And there is all this talk about social distancing, but no one is talking about how to actively fortify your best weapon—your own body.
There is really no outrunning the Coronavirus. It is here and at some point we will catch it. Most of us will ride it out and be just fine, some may not. But just like any other sickness, a healthier body has the best chance at fighting off whatever it is. If this is not one big wake up call to the world, then I don’t know what else can be said to convince people their lifestyle habits can directly effect their future quality of life.
Lifestyle habits include what you eat, what you drink, what you do (or not do) to your body, and how you sleep. People do not think it is important until the last minute.
At the last minute, they wished they had listened.
At the last minute, when they wished they would have started sooner.
At the last minute, they look at all the time that has past to only come to the same realization they had earlier, but were just too stubborn to act.
For me, this pandemic is just another reason why I do what I do, and live the way I live, and tirelessly coach what I coach. I don’t know what is going to be my storm. But I do know I am going to give my body the best chance it has to ride it out with how I build it now and not wait till the last minute.
