Dr. Kenney’s Friday 5 Spot
On Fridays I like to share some of the experiences I’ve had during the week with patients and in my personal life that I’ve found significant in some way. I like to share them in hopes that you might find value in them and have something resonate with you in your life.
An analogy I think works. With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, I want you to think about how difficult it would be for either the Chiefs or Bucs to win the game if they played ONLY defense, no offense at all. Obviously, that would be an extremely tall order and you certainly wouldn’t bet on a team that did so.
Well, a year onto COVID and that is the basic approach we are all being asked to take. All the mainstream recommendations are for defensive measures – don’t touch your face, don’t leave the house, don’t get together in groups, cover your face, cover it with 2 layers, etc. Regardless of what you think of those, none would be considered an offensive measure – something you can do naturally to make yourself stronger and thus less vulnerable. Examples would include taking certain vitamins (C and D, zinc, etc.), exercising, managing your weight, getting more sunlight and more. Defense is part of any game but don’t forget the importance of offense. It’s a big deal in football but far more important when it comes to your health.
Something I’m looking forward to. On Thursday February 4th, my brother-in-law would have turned 33 years old. Rather than sit around and feel sad about his birthday, I will run 33 miles in his honor from my house in Highlands Ranch along a winding route that will end me in Castle Rock on the fields where we coached football together and became so close. There I will spread some of his ashes and say some words with my in-laws, younger kids, and older boys (who will run with me near the end) to remember him. I bring this up to you because we are all likely to face tragedy in our lives. How we deal with it is up to us, however. For me, a 33-mile run with him in my thoughts is a positive way to deal with a sad day. In your case it’s likely to be different but the point is to seek to choose a positive path forward no matter what.
A good reminder for me. After I picked my kids up from school on Friday, we decided we’d get some takeout. I pulled over into a neighborhood and off to the side of a road to do an online order and as I did so someone came behind me and beeped their horn. I put my hazard lights on to have them pull around me, but they pulled up next to me instead. They began to roll down the window to say something to me. I have been in many confrontations in my life so my immediate reaction to this is to get amped up. I quickly rolled down my window and…it was a nice older couple asking me if I needed help. Ha. This reminded me that sometimes we carry baggage with us and go into situations in a manner we shouldn’t. I was reading this situation in a way I did not need to be because of past experiences, insecurities, bravado, etc. This is a small, random instance but I’m sure there are examples of this type of experience in all our lives. I said thank you to those nice people and shared these exact thoughts with my sons who were in the car with me to try and teach them a lesson that I am evidently still learning!
Something I found important. On Friday’s, my in-laws watch my two younger kids for us. Each Friday as we pick them up, my 2-year-old son takes a random toy from grandma’s huge pile and wants to bring it home. I always try to get him not to, but my mother-in-law told me this past week, “let him take it, he’s excited about it now and a week from now he may never want to play with it again.”
This concept hit home for me because often in life we feel like things will last forever and thus we neglect to appreciate them enough in the short term. In fact, we often rush them out of our lives because they seem to be a burden in some way. In my son’s case, he won’t be into dinosaurs and monster trucks forever so I should just enjoy it. A big challenge in life is to truly be present in what is going on so that we can appreciate it and not look too far ahead.
Some quotes I love.
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men and women.” – Frederick Douglass
“Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of ‘crackpot’ than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost.” – Thomas J. Watson
“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
“There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.”
Want more?
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