Challenge Yourself to Be Healthy – OHR 483

My Ironman Challenge

As I write this, my wife and I are sitting in a condo just north of Kona, Hawaii looking at the ocean on one side and mountains on the other. The air, sun, water and aloha feeling are wonderful. Tomorrow I am doing an Ironman 70.3, which is a 1.2-mile ocean swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run.

It’s a very challenging course with heat, wind and lots of hills. This island is not a merciful one. It has jagged lava stones everywhere, and tropical conditions that challenge even the strong.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pretty nervy and a little scared. I’ve been here before, many times with many races, and sometimes I wonder, why am I still doing them?

During last night’s fitful sleep, I remembered the answer.  A full life has challenges and action and enough doubt about the outcome that it can make you sweat and lose sleep. After all, it can be looked at as a game. You play to experience that action in the time you have this body and in this dimension.

Most of us have many games – some of them interesting and some of them exciting.

For me this game of triathlon is both of those. The tension of what if I drown, crash my bike, get overheated and can’t finish, puts real barriers there that have to be overcome. The more the better I say, because when one does overcome them, the endorphin gain is all the bigger and one could coast at least a few days in that glow. I know that this is not a conservative view or even a common way to look at life. But it is a thrilling one and makes for learning that can’t be found in a quiet crossword puzzle (which I too enjoy!) or a game of checkers.

So, if there is any message here, it’s go after the life that you have and attack the barriers that hem you in, and reflect on your prior triumphs and let them encourage you on to ever greater ones. Fun is overcoming, it’s getting knocked down and getting up, it’s you as a spirit conquering the universe with all the power that God endowed you with. So go now and do that.   😊

Onward and upward, and have a great week,

Dr. David I Minkoff, MD

This Week’s Challenge: Make Your Heart Happy!

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