I love quotations. At one time I had a thick notebook filled with quotations for every conceivable situation in life. I used them when I was in the seminar business to demonstrate their use in adding emphasis to various points.
Several of my favorites are about Health, Fitness, Vitality and Life. Some are old and some are new. They are all appropriate. I will write out the quotes, add my short commentary and leave you to ponder them.
The first two are by George Sheehan, a Cardiologist, recreational runner, and prolific author who died of prostate cancer just short of his 75th birthday. He wrote:
“To restore life to your life, to defeat aging, to regain the youth you still possess, get your body in motion.” — from the essay Act Your Age
Dr Sheehan also wrote:
“Inactive people give aging a bad name.”
How true. If you have been following this blog, you know that nearly every article has been written about those two realities in one form or another.
How about this quote:
“Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses it’s purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.” — Leonardo da Vinci.
Da Vinci? No way. Yep, he was pretty saavy when it came to the function and operation of the human body. His notebooks were filled with drawings that could put modern anatomy books to shame. He was very observant when it came to the way the mind and body work and what could go wrong with them.
Those three quotes are about Movement. These last two are about Mindset. Actually, the quotation from DaVinci was about both.
“People say that what we are seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think is is what we’re really seeking. I think what we’re really seeking is an experience of being alive.” — Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
To be truly alive and to enjoy the experience requires good health and vitality. Re-read the quotes by George Sheehan and DaVinci.
The final quote is by Howard Thurmon, a Clergyman and Activist who lived from 1900 until 1981. He said:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
I believe that what he was saying was that if we all took responsibility for ourselves, our actions, and our health and well-being, we would all be self-sufficient; we already have within us, that which it takes to be truly alive! When I first came across this quote, I was inspired to give the name to the Come Alive Project.
Thank you for reading.