CSANews Issue 97

Another year, poof…and it’s gone. We all had great plans with many New Year’s resolutions and commitments to ourselves to improve our lives and our bodies. I remember – walk every day, eat smaller portions, call all of the relatives, stay away from salt, install those handrails, play more golf, play more bridge, stay another month down South – and I am sure that there were lots of others.

Now that another year is upon us, it seems that I should just repeat the same mantra but, this time, actually DO IT. I am sure that we all try for a while, but our attention drifts to far less important things – such as watching TV, sitting in our favourite chair or playing games on the Internet. We are masters at making excuses. But this year will be different!

The world has amazing things to offer us, but we have to get off of our posteriors and live in this world, not cocoon in our living room. Museums, zoos, art galleries, plays and theatre of all kinds would be a good start. Go to the next town for lunch and a look around. Take a boat tour to anywhere. Travel anywhere. The best is probably to just invite a few friends over. Tell them to bring something to eat. You will probably get stuck with the dishes and perhaps the liquor bill, but it’s well worth an evening with friends. Then all go for a walk after dinner together. None of these things are expensive, either.

Now, back to the walking. If you walk every day, the health benefits are so great that it is impossible to list them all. Get a Fitbit or similar device and do 10,000 steps a day. Your weight will melt away, your heart will be much stronger and many nasty diseases will never appear at all. Your chances of having a serious health problem are reduced by up to 50% in some cases. Or you can bike, or kayak, or run a mile, but daily walking is the best.

Try all or at least some of these things and send me a note as to how it is working out, but don’t stop. I will check with you, and myself, in a wonderful year’s time. You see, we are going to make it a wonderful year.