The Weekly Word: June 19th, 2022

What I've Been Thinking About...
I had a funny moment this week working with our Jump Start program which is designed for kids between the ages of 4 and 6. During this class, I set up all kinds of things to balance on, crawl on, hang on, jump over etc. At one point in the session, I told the kids to go jump on a box. In my mind, a box jump is pretty self explanatory. You stand on the ground and from there, jump up and land on top. I had three different heights set up and I allowed them to choose whatever box they wanted. After a minute or two I looked over and saw a few kids doing something that made me scratch my head. These youngsters were standing on top of the box and jumping up and down on it with a big smile on their face. They basically looked as if they were on a pogo stick. This is not what I had in mind when I said "go jump on the box"

I thought about the words I used and realized I did not speak as clearly and concisely as I should have. They took my words and followed the instructions literally. To them, "go jump on the box" means to go jump up and down on the top of box. Lesson learned young ones and I don't plan on making that mistake again!

Fitness Tip of the Week
There was a day this week that I woke up with absolutely zero energy. I don't know what was going on but I had very little motivation. I ended up looking at my Fitbit and my resting heart rate was 4 beats per minute higher than usual. In the past, when this has occurred I had an illness but this time I felt alright other than just feeling really fatigued. Maybe it was stress from planning the summer camps, poor sleep, or a random occurrence but either way, I was cooked.

This lazy feeling of mine also happened to be the day that I planned on doing heavy strength training. One day per week I use the barbell and try to do as much work as possible over the course of 45-60 minutes. After moping around a bit I decided to get into the gym and see how it went. After a few warmup sets things didn't really improve so I figured I will try one more thing before shutting it down. I picked up my phone and went to my hip hop play list and started listening to songs I used to love back in the day aka the early 2000's. The weights started moving easier and I started to feel a little better. After each set, I asked, "Should I add some weight and do another?" I did this multiple times until I got to a challenging weight and ended up doing a weight I have never done before.

Some days, we all need a little jolt of energy. For me, music has the power to change a sour mood into a good mood. It is nice to be able to tap into something that not only brings joy to your ears but also big weights on the barbell!  Side note, after the workout I got into our sauna blanket and put on an audiobook. After about 5 minutes of listening I was out cold. 30 minutes later I woke up in a pool of sweat and felt energized. Who knows what was going on that morning but music, training, rest and maybe a little sweat got me out of that funk!

What I've Been Watching...
JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass by Oliver Stone

I am a fan of Oliver Stone. He has this unique, albeit controversial at times, outlook on things that I really value. Every time I hear him speak or watch one of his films or documentaries it makes me think and this one is no different. Apparently this JFK stuff is a rabbit hole that doesn't have an end but as I watch this I ask myself, how could there be so many inconsistencies? Official documents contradicting one another, altered photographs, deleted documents, questionable evidence, questionable suspect, questionable everything! 

I am just happy there are people like Oliver Stone (and the author of the book described below) that aren't afraid to dive into tough topics and attempt to shed light on the darker side of history.

What I've Been Reading...
Hate Inc.: Why Today's Media Makes us Despise One Another by Matt Taibbi

This book is a strong indictment of American media, the so called journalists covering most news stories, and the divisiveness that it creates in our society. Sometime over the last few decades news reporting became something different. A certain "us versus them" mentality took over as rival news companies began chasing ratings and clicks rather than chasing real stories.  

The publisher sums up this book with the following: "Part tirade, part confessional, it reveals that what most people think of as "the news" is, in fact, a twisted wing of the entertainment business." 

Quote of the Week
"Success in not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." -- Winston Churchill

I hope you all have an awesome week!
Chris Fluck