Its a beautiful Sunday morning with the sun that has greeted me and hopefully you as well. We find ourselves into the beginnings of spring. The sun with its more prominent rays fill us with energy. The warmth of the air, beckons us to stand up right as it surrounds us and our lungs with deeper fullness to our breath. Our legs which may have stiffened from the winter cold begin to loosen up in the morning as the temperatures allow us to stretch in comfort. This is the gift of spring, the opportunity to allow us to open up ourselves physically to more movement.
In honor of such a time, I watched a film that tributes longevity to continuing to keep the body in motion with a positive mentality on the self. The film is titled “Age of Champions.” You can view a trailer of the film here: http://ageofchampions.org/.
The film depicts the lives of people who are in their late 60’s and up even to 100 years old who are national competitors. Each of them has a sport for which they train and compete. The film depicts their mental and physical training. It is their mental perseverance that stands out so clearly as the thread that has allowed them enjoy such physical endurance.
They speak of the competition with the fierce conviction of their spirit that they are in fact winners. There is as one person describes it “no second place”. They set their mind and hearts on “first place” and with the support of their family, friends and other team mates; enter the competition with victory as their goal. None of them speak of their age as a hindrance; rather they have used it as an opportunity to pronounce themselves as newly born into another phase of their life that they get to enjoy through such experiences. One quote that stood out for me that was uttered by a fierce long time shot-put and high jumper was (and I am paraphrasing) “you can’t just have faith, you have to have hard work along with faith to make it happen.”
I thought about this quote as it applies to my own journey through health and healing. Faith has given me the courage to continue to seek out more improvement in my physical stability and mental clarity as I have seen my way through my own health challenge. It has allowed the storms to pass with more ease. It has allowed me to know that within each day of my life that I find myself struggling, there will be a day where I will not. But within this restful mind of peace that has come with faith, has indeed come my share of hard work.
I have stayed the course when I have felt so tired. When I have lacked the clarity to focus inward and trust my instincts I have looked for opportunities to quiet my mind so that I can regain my center. I have incorporated physical building exercises along with my dedication in the kitchen to create the opportunities for my body to become stronger.
Faith and hard work do go hand in hand. It takes commitment to honor one’s faith and just by wishing something to happen does not make it a possibility. We take care of ourselves when we apply what we have been given as tools to improving our health and combine this with the gentle spirit of ourselves. This creates a balance for which we can be assured we have applied our full self to taking responsibility as leaders of our health journey.
I due hope you find an opportunity to enjoy this film. Perhaps with the more senior people in your life who are themselves active or can use this film to inspire them to seek out local gatherings which promote physical movement. Perhaps a conversation will begin between you and them about the power of faith along with hard work as it has manifested itself in their own lives and yours.
In health,
Safara
