As I have delved into my research for identifying core values, passion and purpose, the topic of “lifestyle” and “lifestyle choices” has been mentioned over and over again. I have not really focused on this topic in quite some time. Believe it or not my past passion for “lifestyle” dates back to college.
Back in college senior year I had the best class, jogging. I don’t recall doing too much jogging; however, the real focus was on LIFESTYLE. I loved this class. How could you not? Al Carius, North Central College’s men’s track and field and cross-country coach, taught it. He taught us about incorporating good health and fitness choices into our daily lives. It should be fun. My friends and I loved his message. We even made a Lifestyle chart and hung it in my dorm room. The categories included exercise, drinking, skipping class, homework, etc. I wish I could remember all the categories. I think the drinking column had way too many tick marks. We had the best time.
All you have to do is Google Al Carius and you will find pages and pages of information on Al’s achievements. It is really hard to not love this man. My one regret is that I did not join cross-country or track and field and hang with his crowd. Al is definitely someone who has found his passion and purpose. He has touched the lives of so many students and athletes over his 50 years of teaching. I found the below quote on the NCC web site…
“We try to have running be a part of their lifestyle,” Carius says in talking about his runners, “not be their life, but a part of it. They’re not doing it for me but for themselves. The thing we value most is personal improvement; doing something you haven’t done before. You’re not a better person if you’re an All-American and not a worse person if you’re not. Athletics should be fun. It does mean you always give your best. And when you do that, you can live with the results. You don’t get down.”
http://northcentralcardinals.com/coaches.aspx?rc=538
Reading and writing about Al and lifestyle choices has inspired me to create my own lifestyle chart. I used Excel and will log my daily activity.
My categories across:
Physical Activity, Fruit/Vegetables, Alcohol, Professional Development, Personal Development, Family/Friends
I will have the date in the first column going down. Each day I will check off the box if I did something relating to the topic, such as run for physical activity. I will also track on the specifics on separate tabs, such as books read, HR topics researched, fitness activity.
I can’t wait to see my accomplishments; or lack of over the next few weeks. This is another important topic to discuss ongoing.
Mom In Transition 