Fit for Life: Life Isn't Fair

Fit for Life: Life Isn't Fair

I have heard many complaints over the past couple of weeks about how life isn't fair and listening to people create their victim mentality when "luck" doesn't fall in their laps.

 

It started with an off-season football practice last week when one of the kids complained about being on the field on one of the hottest, most humid days of the week.

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Then I heard someone complaining about the fireworks being canceled on the 4th of July and someone's party getting rained on.

 

I even heard a person on a fishing boat complain because the person next to him caught fish and he didn't. "Why couldn't that have been me catching the fish"? He wallowed while walking around the boat.

 

After hearing this, I looked at my dad and said, "In all reality, the only way luck plays a part in life is with fishing & the weather."  With all other instances in life, we need to MAKE our luck and overcome the instances that "aren't fair" or deal with the unfairness differently to level the playing field.

 

Make life fair for someone else. It isn't all about you!!

 

Although we can't always control what happens to us, we can control what we do for someone else and do certain deeds that could make life a little better and fairer for them.

 

I train the football team at Shea high school team, and I do it for minimal compensation. I used to volunteer my time; however, now, the Pawtucket school system issues me a check every year. I don't do it for the money; I do it because I see all these private school kids getting trained in state-of-the-art gyms, and our kids have nothing.

 

I told the kids on that hot day that life isn't fair, and we can't predict the weather, so we must embrace the suck factor and carry on. I told them that our "unfair" advantage is that we are getting a head start on our competition and that they have a great structured program that I created, so we can be ready when the season begins.

 

Life isn't fair when you are born into a poor economic status. However, the opportunities are there for everyone to overcome that status, and you can use it as fuel to improve your situation. I teach these kids the things I have learned in life and get them physically fit so they can overcome some of the unfairness they were dealt.

 

You can do the same for your family and the people you care about by taking care of your health and fitness, and not only make life fair for them but avoid creating an unfair situation for them.

 

What do I mean by this?

 

When you or someone else gets sick and needs to rely on others to care for you, it isn't fair for the people caring for you. If you are unhealthy and die at a young age, it isn't fair for your family to endure the grief, either.

 

If you are sick, overweight, and out of shape, it isn't because life is unfair; it's because of the choices you have made along the way. You are overweight because you eat more calories than you burn, don't work out, live an unhealthy lifestyle, and continue to do so. The bottom line is that it isn't life being unfair.

 

Yes, sometimes there are circumstances where sickness happens, or there are psychological and emotional factors. However, the bottom line is that we create our situations, and in most cases, we make life unfair for those around us, and in many instances, it's avoidable.

 

When you take care of yourself, you not only benefit by feeling and looking great, but you release the burden of taking care of yourself from your family. Yes, most people rise to the occasion and will do what's required for loved ones, but are we being fair to them by requiring them to care for us when we could've prevented the situation altogether? No.

 

When I see parents smoking around their children, I always think how unfair it is to those kids that they only think of themselves and their situation and are putting their health at risk.

 

Life will never be fair. That's just the way it is. The best way I deal with it is by incorporating the three C's that I have talked & written about in numerous situations. It goes like this:

 

Control what we can. Things like how hard we work, how much we eat, what type of food we eat, our time, our money, and whether we exercise are all things we can control, so focus on what we have the power to change or prevent.

 

Cope with the things we can't control. The weather, the government, and the stock market are all things we can't control, so there isn't any reason to let these things cause us distress. Cope with the situation, and move on.

 

Concentrate on what matters most. Your health, and making life fair for others around us. Concentrate on taking steps to make your life, as well as someone else's, better.

 

When we concentrate on what matters most, we will live with more fulfillment and purpose.

Remember, it isn't always about you!!

 

Coach Matt