Three Little Birds

Nuthatch

 

About a month ago, two women came to my door. It was the usual door-to-door salesperson bluff covering for hopeful religious conversion. I told them a version of what I usually say -- that I'm not Christian, wasn't raised that way and despite doing my research I don't plan on changing. I probably tell them more than they need, but I'm talkative when I'm nervous.

The older of the two women decided she was going to have me read some scripture. I cautiously obliged. The passage was on grief. She asked me what I do during times of grief. I told her, without blinking, that I look to examples of other people. She then asked me to read the next passage. It was more of the same. Maybe I missed the nuance, because she then asked me, as the younger woman stood nervously behind her, how does one suffering from grief overcome it?

All I could think at that time was that I overcome grief by looking inward and hearing other people's stories. I told the older woman as much. It was as close to the truth as I could find in that awkward moment with two strangers standing outside my door.

A bit later,  after I had time to myself. I remembered a few weeks earlier when I was in quite a bit of pain. Life became difficult due to a series of accidents, mine and those around me. I recalled how I dealt with the pain and difficulty by watching these little birds outside my doorway. They gave me joy and relief every time they fluttered towards the feeder in a swarm and happily fed and bathed in the water I set out for them. These little birds...outside my doorway...

Bob Marley's song, Three Little Birds, is about just that -- three little birds that gave him joy as he saw them nearly everyday outside his door. They inspired him so he wrote a song. The song is so meaningful, many people think it is about much more than birds. Maybe it is, in a way. Every time I found myself in pain in those next couple of weeks, I found myself singing that song because "Every little thing is gonna be alright."

What I Didn't Learn In High School PE & Health - Marching Is Great

For several years I've had a bone to pick with the rigidity of the physical fitness classes and health philosophies taught to me while I was in High-School. The reason for this is, I believe, many of our ideas for how to keep in shape are formed during this time, and to build a solid foundation of health and fitness it is imperative that a good solid understanding of how to exercise is learned. The key here is there are many roads to get to that one healthy goal.

At my high school it was required that we take basic health and PE as Freshmen and then continue with supplemental credits to fulfill the rest of the requirements. For PE, that requirement was often satisfied with credit with sports participation or individual study. My issue stems from the exclusion of specific activities as "active" and "beneficial" to a healthy lifestyle. Also, that we were not taught how to evaluate an activity for its healthy benefits such as working muscle groups, intensity, and cardio versus anaerobic. These are things I learned in college and only in relation to weight lifting.

"...it came to our attention students were bowling and golfing for PE credit, and the cheerleaders and dance team were credited for their activities as well. So why weren't the marching band and color guard?"

Something interesting happened my senior year of HS. Many of my classmates were scrambling for PE credit. We were very involved with music and had little time to fit in all the credits we needed because of scheduling conflicts. A few of us began a philosophical discussion in health class, because the teacher in charge of PE was our health teacher. The philosophical discussion became a tangible investigation when it came to our attention students were bowling and golfing for PE credit, and the cheerleaders and dance team were credited for their activities as well. So why weren't the marching band and color guard?

As a small group we started talking with our teacher. We told him about the abdominal breathing. We told him about the playing while marching. In length we went into how much each instrument weighs and how we lift and lower the instruments with force and hold them up high for long periods at a time. Then we went into the marching; the endless controlled marching. He wasn't buying any of it. The teacher claimed we just stood and played and walked. We offered for him to visit practice, maybe sit in on a rehearsal with a tuba around his neck. For some unknown reason he kept denying our hard work and athleticism and wouldn't let us apply for independent study. It was ridiculous.

Fast forward to today. I've marched in 4 marching bands for a total of 8 years. I took weight training in college to help fill the gap of physical education I lost in high school due to my bad luck with teachers, or whatever happened. Even with the knowledge of how to use gym equipment and how to do burpees, I still got stuck in a desk job and relegated myself to walking loops around a parking lot for my exercise. My hips slowly lost their strong marching muscles. Also, I went through a few years with a few life traumas... and that certainly didn't help me.

"It wasn't until recently that I found some exercises that are helping me to strengthen the muscles that were hurt or depleted. Guess what most of that exercise is? Marching in place."

Now, here I am recovering from some stress injuries and, low and behold, it is my hips/knees causing the bulk of the problems. I've been going to a chiropractor for a while now and tried many different exercises to strengthen my core over the last 4 years. It wasn't until recently that I found some exercises that are helping me to strengthen the muscles that were hurt or depleted. Guess what most of that exercise is? Marching in place. Yup! There is a reason soldiers march so much. Not only is it a quick way to walk, but it strengthens your core, yours hips, bones, and all those walking and sit-muscles we should be using but don't because...you know, plopping down is so much easier! Oh, the irony.

 I'm repairing my hips and shoulders (and jaw) from all the trauma I put them through during my bout of stress. And it is helping so much! So, I know it is 15 years too late, but Mr. Health Teacher, marching is GREAT exercise. I've gone down a size in pants and gained muscle back. So, don't judge it until you've tried it or at least researched it a little. Try it! :-)