Friday, February 6, 2009

Middle-age man motivation


I'm constantly on the hunt for words of wisdom that best capture the feelings and thoughts bouncing around inside my middle-age man mind. Here are three that I've collected in my search:

"He looks young enough and strong enough to be his own son."

While my motivation for fitness and health should be because it's the right thing to do and to give thanks to God for my blessings, there are some vanity factors that enter into the equation as well if I am rigorously honest with myself. The notion of looking young enough and strong enough to be my own son best captures one of my vanities.

"Under pressure we do not rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training."

On first impression, I might limit these words of wisdom to a physical fitness context. The mental discipline of hard fitness training does, however, have spillover benefit to the challenges of everyday living being a middle-age man, spouse, father, son, brother, cousin, nephew, uncle, and CPA.

"When I grow up I want to be an old man."

During a recent visit to my Dad's house, I overheard a television commercial for health insurance that began with a scene of middle-age women walking and smiling with a caption in the background that said, "When I grow up I want to be an old woman". In my middle-age man journey, I'm constantly seeking the wisdom of men and women from a generation before me. I've had regular conversations with a couple of 90 years plus young men I know. Their perspective and wisdom about the things in life that matter the most always impress me, and I'm always taking notes when listening to what they have to share. They inspire me to want to be an old man when I grow up.

We are all different and so are the things that motivate us to be our very best. The above words of wisdom are three examples of my middle-age man motivation.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

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