Language is an amazing thing. Yes, we use it (or try to anyways!) on a daily basis - but sometimes the true meaning and context of words gets lost in the cultural usage of the word. Let's face it - language is only as good as our understanding of the words we use. I've found it helpful to, at times, go back to a dictionary and revisit the true definition of a word and the context in which it is relevant.

 

Here's a recent example from the annals of my world:

ed·u·ca·tion – noun:

1. the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.

 

Interesting concept.

 

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Perception is reality.

I know this sounds like a cliched, overused term - but I think it summarizes one of the biggest challenges we face on a day-to-day basis.

The comfort zone.

We can choose to push our level of comfort - our comfort zone - or not.

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I have probably heard all of the stories of marathon PRs lost, the tales of woe and angst of training seemingly gone awry on any given Sunday. With a sly grin and an optimistic view, I've found just about all of them to be preventable. All it requires is becoming a smarter athlete - plain and simple.

The AT&T Austin Marathon is 11 days away. Let's take a moment to go over a few of the top ways to ruin your marathon ... there's still plenty of time to remedy them!

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I am of the understanding that as it stands right now, the price tag for the war in Iraq is well on it's way to one trillion dollars. That's a one with a lot of zeros after it. In some ways, it's almost impossible to imagine. No, in ALL ways it's quite impossible to imagine.

In the not-so-distant past, we've also been told by our leaders that the cost of universal health care is prohibitive. As a matter of fact, we're one of the few (if not the only country) in the world that doesn't have some level of universal health care. The media and politicians have entitled it "socialized medicine", evoking the response of the average American who relates "socialism" with, well, a big nasty entity from the Cold War era.

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Happy New Year from the Smart Life Institute!

I am not really sure what inspires people to select a rather arbitrary day (January 1) to suddenly decide that certain things in their lives have to change. It's always been fascinating to me how January 1 holds so much weight - when the natural day to ponder our own internal evolution would most certainly be our birthday.

But with that said, a new year is upon us. Another year has passed with many ups and downs for all of us. I am sure you've all had difficult challenges ... and many positive experiences ... throughout the past year.

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It's time to give health care back to the people.

"Power to the people". You'd have to go back a few years to witness the cultural significance of this phrase. In the '60's, it was a rallying cry against The Establishment. It was used to protest the US involvement in the Vietnam War. It's been uttered by many a musician ranging from John Lennon to Public Enemy to James Brown.

Everyone speaks of "power". But in health care, who's power is it anyways?

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It's become a popular rehab activities for runners. It's name: aqua jogging. Some use it as a means of "cross-training". Articles rave about it.

Aqua jogging - otherwise known as "deep water running" - or how to become a better runner on the moon.

 

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You think I am joking? Let's look at the "evidence" and draw some conclusions.

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