AyiPreneur

Give the gift of life

January 9, 2010 at 10:39 pm jorelien Leave a comment

Recently, I had one of those Eureka moments as a parent. The thought went like this: the best of any gift that we could have given to our children is that we brought them to life in the first place, so wouldn’t the next be thing be to help them prolong that life?

What if we could take actions that have the potential to increase our kids’ life by 10 to 20 years, would it be worth it? How about if it’s merely a 3 to 5 years? Yet, many of the decisions that our kids take or that we set for our kids have the potential to impact how long they live. These decisions not only have the potential to affect how long our kids live but also the quality of life that they will live.

Clearly, no parent would want their kids to grow up smoking or be a drunkard or have their life shortened by something like cancer. However, when we as parents are failing to encourage our kids to embrace other healthy behaviors that have been proven to help increase their life span are we not to some extent implicitly refusing to extend their time on this earth?

Specifically, I think there are two major ways that we can help by a)encouraging health behaviors primarily as it comes to nutrition and physical activity, and b) by adopting these behaviors ourselves. Think of all the kids who will develop diabetes, develop heart disease or even cancer because they were allowed to indulge in all kind of fatty and sweet junk food?

For 2010, my goal is to be first an example at home by leading a healthy lifestyle. When I confided to one of my long-term clients my love for food, she reminded me that I should eat to live and not live to eat. To live by this adage, I will watch my calories, eat healthy portions, balanced meals, have my vitamins and do my exercise 3 to 5 times a week for 30 minutes.

Of course, by being a good example for the kids and embracing a healthy lifestyle, I hope not only to add a few years to their life but also to prolong the time that I get to spend with the grandkids on this earth.

Entry filed under: Sucess. Tags: achievement, achiever, goal setting, health, how to set goals, inspiration, overcoming adversity, professional development, self-development, Small Business, smart, smart goals, success.