What Is Most Important To YOU?
Have you asked yourself this question lately? What is the most important thing to you in your life? If you answered, “My Family”, then you are like most family men out there. We get married and have children, not to neglect them, but to grow and nurture that them.
“If you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person.”
Flight Attendant
As fathers, we lose sleep at night on how we are going to provide for the needs of our families. As you established those needs and progress out of the stages of self-preservation, providing food and shelter, we then focus on security. By security, I do not mean physical security. Having shelter for your family provides a certain type of security. Additionally, there are inexpensive ways to provide physical security these days. However, what I mean here is long term security, which may include financial or security through health and well-being. These types of security afford our offspring future OPPORTUNITIES and OPTIONS.
Are you doing what it takes?
Once you recognize that family is the most important thing in your life, are your actions speaking louder than your words? Are you doing whatever it takes to ensure that you are around long enough to provide security for your family? By being “around” I do not mean merely existing. Even the morbidly obese individuals you see on T.V. or you see in everyday life are still “around”, but would you call that living? In that case, you ARE “around”, but is that really enjoying life? It would be more difficult (but not impossible) to contribute to the security of your family if you are not an able bodied man or at least able to earn a wage or create profit. Health and wellness do not just HAPPEN. Like everything else worth having in this life, you work for it.
What Is Stopping You?
By now, you may have noticed that none of my previous posts are revealing any guarded secrets or teaching rocket science. The formula is simple, and you have likely heard it time and time again. The real question is, what is stopping you? Why are you not doing whatever it takes to ensure your family’s future, with you in it, is secure? Why are you not doing whatever it takes to ensure your health and wellness is maintained to enjoy life with them!?!?
PRIORITZE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
“If you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person.” If you have ever traveled on an airplane in the U.S. (and were paying attention), you recognize this from the flight attendant’s safety demonstration. We may not be flying 35,000 feet in the air, but as parents, the concept remains the same. That concept is this; it is counterproductive to unnecessarily sacrifice your own health and well-being, especially when doing so will negatively affect both you and your child!
By you not Prioritizing Physical Activity in your life, and using your child as an excuse, Five things happen:
- You set a standard in your household that Prioritizing Physical Activity is not important.
- You cause yourself to resent your children for the sacrifices you convinced yourself you had to take for them, with this resentment manifesting itself in unsavory ways.
- You diminish your health, well-being and life expectancy.
- You reduce the years you have to secure the next generation’s future.
- By your actions you teach your children this behavior and they repeat it in their adulthood and as parents.
Final Thought
If there is a guarded secret it lies in Prioritizing Physical Activity. It is time you stop using your child(ren) as an excuse to why you are “out of shape”, overweight, fat or obese. That is an easy out for you and a way to escape holding yourself accountable. Fact is, nobody is buying that narrative anymore. So, retire it! It is up to you to secure you own oxygen mask first, be an example and show your kids what you can do if you put your mind to it! Your family is something worth fighting for. It starts right now! With you!