The End of the World

People have had thoughts about the end of the world for as long as they have been able to think. They have been most prolific on this subject during extreme oppression and persecution. In one form or another, there has always been the hope that an end would come to everything, vindicating the faithful.

Things are a little different nowadays. They are not quite as turbulent, at least for us. But we now know more about the cosmos and thus find ourselves contemplating the possibility of being hit by a meteor. Clearly one very large one could end life as we know it. Luckily this is not very likely and therefore not much talked about. If it were, people would find it difficult o keep going each day.

Sometimes a vaguely similar thought pattern emerges in the realm of fitness. That is, people come to fear that what they rely on for their fitness lifestyles may somehow become non-existent. This is especially so given the state of the economy, which impacts the places we work out, the vitamins we take, and even the foods that make up our diets.

With all of the layoffs and tight money this becomes especially frightening. Who can be sure that the clubs we go to every morning will still be open next month/ Or, for that matter, what about the vitamin companies we rely on? Will they be in existence next month? Will they become bankrupt thereby making it impossible for us to get the supplements we need for maximum development and energy reserves?

Then too, the economy may not be the major culprit. Perhaps it will be the government. It seems there is always a handful of legislators who want to shut down the supplement industry. Possibly one day they will succeed in their dismal, unhealthy efforts. If so, they will be thinking that they are saving their constituents from the alleged downside of mega-dosing, ie. getting too much of a good thing. How absurd this is in comparison to the tens of thousands who become crippled due to drugs from the major pharmaceutical manufacturers or mistakes on the part of local pharmacists. Nevertheless, how possible it is that these lawmakers could one day win.

As if that is not enough, there are the chemists of the food industry itself. Will they deem that what what we are currently eating is still safe safe and optimally nutritious? This may sound like a facetious query unless you have lived through earlier years when milk went from number one source of nourishment to being very questionable for a considerable number of people. Lactose intolerance is now an acceptable term. It was not so forty years ago.The same may be coming for wheat. Many of us rely on breads, pasta, flour products. Where would be if one day it were seen as a likely agent for a number of the too common maladies in our country? Clearly, some nutritionists today believe that it is the primary cause of belly fat. What if it were worse than this? Could we really make it without our sandwiches, pizzas, pancakes and the like?

Psychologists often call this type of thought catastrophic thinking and attempt to cure people of it. They often do so with tongue in cheek, using the label of "phobia."Nevertheless.any of the above mentioned things can happen. Therefore, we need to have a plan B so that we are never even temporarily stopped from doing what we must to get more fit by the day. That means knowing about other vitamin companies, knowing about other health clubs, and being prepared to switch main sources of foods in our diets.

Some call this "being flexible." The Boy Scouts called it "being prepared." Whichever may be preferred, that is how we must be mentally long before we need to act on it. That is the only way for us to maintain the feelings necessary for optimal fitness development. In other words, living with anxiety or dread is simply unacceptable.

Leaving any of the catastrophic feelings in the back of our minds, trying to convince ourselves that nothing bad will ever happen, takes psychological energy away from the ability to remain constant and effective when it comes to supplementation, diet and exercise. That type of fear--dormant worry-- inevitably leads to quitting. When that happens, there is only the return to the "tried and (allegedly) true" ways of sedentary living with its grocery store food, Big Macs and beer. All of these, it is sadly trusted, will be around forever.

In the interests of healthy, infinitely more fit, country, let us hope they all soon go the way of Bernie Madoff. You can help bring this about by just continuing to say "No" to all of them.

For further thought on replacing a normal lifestyle with a fitness one order my book "Think and Grow Fit."