The idea for this post came from a situation last weekend. A friend had said that she was coming over and bringing a couple of friends to enjoy my Healthy Happy Hour from 4:00 – 5:00 pm on Sundays. I had taken my daughter Grace to the New Mexico State Fair for the last day and we rushed home to make a healthy cheesecake (yes, there is such a thing) for my party and the friend didn’t show up. I felt badly for Grace because it was the last day of the State Fair that we both love to go to and we could have stayed longer much longer. The broken commitment went beyond just a party and affecting me.
That fleeting moment in time helped me come to realize that commitments are like links in a chain and when one or more links fail, the chain fails. If, for example, we all made a commitment to do the right thing, the world would be freed from many of the problems that plague us today. If we all committed to eat nutritiously to fuel our bodies, there would most likely be no obesity epidemic. If we all exercised regularly and made positive lifestyle choices, there would be little need to reform health care because we would all be committed to caring for our own health and wellness and taking much better care of our bodies.
If none of this hits home with you, then perhaps you will take to heart this case in point. I responded to an email from someone who was doing P90X as a contest and part of a sibling rivalry. Within the body of the email, the person also said, “I have two children and I want to be able to not only participate more in their lives, but be a better example. Their nutritional habits are horrible and I place the blame squarely on my wife and I for not teaching them correctly. Not because we did not try, but because we did not know. Nutritional awareness is one of the main things I want to get out of the program.” I would like to share with you my response.
“The sibling rivalry is great. The fact that you are doing this with your wife is awesome. But I think the most important thing of all is that you will all be great role models for your children. It is as if they are doing the life change program, too, but in the beginning, just as observers.
As your eating habits change to fuel your bodies, your bodies change as you begin to lose body fat and your energy levels and zest for life go up, your kids will surely notice. They may not say anything, but they will take it in and notice all of the positives and gradually want to follow in your footsteps. Perhaps it will be better to let them follow instead of pulling or pushing them.
I’m 58 with an almost 5 year old, Grace and an almost 3 year old Carly. They are the loves of my life and obviously I need to be around for a long time for them, so I need to be in top physical condition. I am doing that and you can see that from my profile, my website and by following me on social media like Twitter. I want to be the ultimate role model for them.”
If you make and break commitments that you make to yourself, then maybe now is the time to start making those commitments to those who will follow us. They are watching us and in many instances, copying us. They may not be your own children, but they are the next generation of leaders for this country and this world and the time will come in our lives when we will depend on them to be great leaders for those who follow them.
If we are mindful of every step that we take and every commitment we make, then the world will be a better place now and in the future as those who follow us take the lead.
Richard Dafter
Spring 2009 Team Beachbody Top Coach
www.HowToBeFit.com
Independent Team Beachbody Coach
Team Howtobefit Head Coach
Twitter: http://twitter.com/richdafter
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rich.dafter.
Email: howtobefit@aol.com