Paleo Brother

Perfection is impossible.

However, striving for perfection is not.

Do the best you can under the conditions that exist.

That is what counts.

 

John Wooden, UCLA basketball coach {October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010}

 

 

Well, well, well it seems we can always learn something from both our elders and our youngsters.  As I have moved through life and aged as we all must do, I have tried very hard to still remain in the know and relevant.  Sometimes to the delight of my children and sometimes to the angst.

 

I have friends of all ages. It does become more difficult as I age to get young people, especially women, to give me a chance.  Most young women want to call me ma'am and dismiss me like an old sock with no elastic.  This infuriates me.  However, I still manage to persist in many cases and gain the respect and sometimes friendship of the younger crowd.  Why is this important?  Because they have their finger on the pulse of the world that's why. 

 

I love my older friends for their wisdom and life experience. I treasure my seasoned friends and I hate when they pass on ahead of me because they are gifts to my life I never want to lose.  But I cherish my younger friends because they are still sparking. Not to say my older friends don't spark too,that's why I'm drawn to them, they just don't spark as much or as bright - their's is different kind of fire, the slow deep, rich burn of the charcoal creating fire not the bright hot fire of new fuel. 

 

But young people spark as if they are burning up the fuel of their lives and emitting sparks. They generate so much heat you can stand close to their fire and never have to lift a finger to warm yourself.  You can watch the sparks fly and the embers waft to the heavens. You can bask in the glow of their accomplishments as you learn from them what is going in the world that you know nothing about. For example take digital technology.  There is much talk about  young people being digital natives, while we, my age group, are digital immigrants. They were born into this technology rich world.  People my age have been trying to adapt and keep up ever since the first touch tone phone emerged.  So we can learn a lot from the natives, right?  And I do, and I love the moment when a young person begins to see me not as a grey haired old lady but as a friend, an equal, because I understand something they are just now realizing - we can learn many things from each other.  You share with me your insight into today's world and I will share with you my wisdom from yesterday's.

 

Sooooo today is about learning something new from my young friend Shane. What a guy.  I met Shane when I went back to school to finally finish my bachelors degree.  This handsome, young Filipino man was probably the least likely person in my class to form a friendship with but that's exactly what happened and the pay off has been huge. I'm kind of like a second mom to him and he is kind of like another son, but its more than that. It is a dear friendship of peers who just happen to be different in age.  He is great for advice about the graphic design market. I love living vicariously through his adventures like learning to fence or creating his own business. I like coaching him in matters of the heart or encouraging him in his latest quest.  He is all about fitness and he has led me to a new adventure of my own.  The Paleo diet. 

 

Paleo diet is eating like the caveman.  It is consuming a diet rich in vegetables and protein with no grains, legumes or processed foods.  Shane suggested this month's ago when we were texting about my fitness goals and I agreed it sounded interesting but I wasn't ready to give up my beans.  I love beans!  Bread I can live without but rice and beans are like my staples.  I love brown rice, I love beans, did I say that already?  Well I do!! 

 

But the scale tells no lies and it is not moving.  So I am going to eliminate these for the most part from my diet and see if that makes a difference. I am not going for total annihilation at first. I am going to do what the quote by Wooden suggests, I am going to strive for perfecting this diet but I am not going to try to be a perfectionist. 

 

There are multitudes of sites on the web to look at if you are interested in checking out Paleo  diet and see what it involves.  I'm looking at these right now;

 

www.Marksdailyapple.com

 

www.nerdfitness.com

 

This morning while looking at my emails I opened up my weekly email from Runner's world and there was an article and information about the Paleo diet.  I remembered Shane's encouragement.  I began reading and some things really started clicking.  I have no reason not to try it.  I have the time and the motivation right now. 

 

My friend is definitely a physical fitness native - he has lived there a long time. I am returning to the land of the fit and do feel like an immigrant, finding a lot has changed since I last visited. But this is the pay off of keeping an open mind, if I admit I don't know everything, there is always hope to learn something new whether from the old sage or the young kid.  And who knows, this might be the winning combination! I'm going Paleo bro!  Who's with me?

 

That's all ~ Thanks y'all!