TWO REAL LIVE HEROES
AGAINST THE ODDS

By Dr. Martin Collis

At Speakwell we have heroes, they inspire us and constantly remind us what is possible when passion and purpose collide. In my own life I have been lucky enough, not only to admire my heroes from afar, but to work with some, coach others and call a number of them my friends.

SIMON IBELL

The doors of history swing on small hinges and I can remember a moment 5 years ago when I first met Simon Ibell. My Human Potential class at University of Victoria was always oversubscribed and the physical constraints of the lecture hall meant that I had to turn some students away, rather like stand-by passengers who don't make it onto a plane. On one occasion I recall reading the names of those who had been accepted and then realizing that there were only a few students packing their books and heading for the door in search of another class. I made a quick decision and told everyone to stay, hoping the fire marshal wouldn't check out my class.

One of the people who got that last minute reprieve was Simon. I recognized him as the manager of the University's National Champion basketball team. There was always a wonderful sense of incongruity watching Simon at work with the basketball team, for Simon is 4ft. 8ins tall and many of the players he worked with were 2 feet taller. I also knew that Simon had battled to get accepted into the Dept. of Physical Education, steadfastly maintaining that his physical disabilities in no way constituted a handicap. Now I was about to get to know Simon, the man.

Simon has a genetic condition known as MPS (Mucopolysacharridosis) which is an enzyme deficiency where the body is missing a critical enzyme, iduronidase. The missing enzyme is a major problem and many of the children born with MPS don't live to see their 10th birthday. (The only positive thing one can say about MPS is that it's rare, affecting only one in 125,000 people.) The most visible outcome of MPS is its impact on growth hormone which leaves people like Simon well short of their predicted height, which in his case was 6ft 3ins. If it were just decreased stature MPS wouldn't be too bad, but it makes its presence felt in many unpleasant ways.

(a) Without iduronidase joints aren't lubricated and arthritis sets in. This can lead to spinal pain, difficulty in movement and lack of manual dexterity.

(b) Sacharrides congeal behind the ear-drums making them inflexible and causing hearing loss.

(c) Organs become enlarged.

Simon escaped the neurological damage which often accompanies MPS and, in the words of his father, has a 'will of iron'. His parents took him all over the world in search of a cure that turned out to be nonexistent, and at 14 years of age, Simon decided to get on with his life. And what a life it has become.

He endured ridicule and teasing as a young boy because he was different from his peers in appearance, but by the time he reached high school, his fellow students were won over by his courage, his sense of humor, his passion for sport and love of life. As manager of his high school (St. Michael's University School) basketball team he established an unbreakable bond with the star player, Steve Nash. Like all great friendships Simon and Steve brought out the best in each other.

After graduation from high school the two young men went their separate remarkable ways but remained friends. Steve took the one U.S. basketball scholarship offered him at Santa Clara University and Simon entered the University of Victoria.

STEVE'S STORY

There was no missing iduronidase in the makeup of Steve Nash. His father was a professional soccer player and his mother played for England at netball. Steve grew to 6ft 3ins, about the height that Simon would have attained were it not for MPS.

I first got to know Steve and his family through soccer. I ran a soccer camp in the summers and Steve's dad, John, would always take some vacation time to help coach and have the pleasure of watching Steve and his brother Martin, develop into soccer prodigies. Steve was ambitious and an obvious professional athlete in the making. He played many sports but it was clear to his father and me that, if he went the professional route, his best chance was as a soccer player. But Steve fell in love with basketball and decided he wanted to play in the NBA. The odds of a 6ft 3in Canadian kid from Victoria even getting close to the NBA were off the scale. The handful of Canadians that made it to the league were tall enough to be noticed by the college scouts, who know that the one thing you can't coach is height.

However, any team with Steve Nash as a point guard seemed to overachieve in an extraordinary way and in hindsight a familiar pattern has emerged. At high school he captained his AA institution to win the AAA provincial title in Hoosier-like fashion. The small Santa Clara University more than once went improbably deep into the 'Big Dance' of the NCAA Tournament. Under Steve's leadership, the Canadian National team not only qualified for the Olympics, but defeated the host Australian team and powerhouses Russia and Yugoslavia, before bowing to France. Steve Nash left the court in tears feeling that he'd failed to deliver a medal to his country. He went in the 1st round of the NBA draft to Phoenix and served an apprenticeship with the legendary Jason Kidd before moving on to Dallas and a 33 million dollar contract. The Dallas team is well named the Mavericks. Their owner is irrepressible dot com billionaire, Mark Cuban, and the head coach, Don Nelson, is one of the most unorthodox in the history of pro. basketball. The team is a veritable United Nations, with its Canadian point guard passing off to players from U.S.A., France, China, Mexico and Germany. This year the unlikely Mavericks are one of the top three teams in basketball. Recently, Steve and his best friend and teammate Dirk Nowitzki were selected to join the top 25 players in the world at the NBA All Star game. The West All Stars won and typically, Steve led all players in assists. At half time Steve was the featured player in a Nike ad. which said, 'When Steve Nash listed his life goals, appearing in the NBA All Star game was only half way up the list. - Next?'

In case this sounds too good to be true, it never came easily for Steve. After he arrived in Dallas he played through nearly two seasons of injuries and his performance and statistics suffered. The Dallas Morning News referred to him as, 'The worst trade in the history of the franchise.' It's at times like this that he needed a role model and friend like Simon Ibell. I've got goose bumps just writing this, you see Steve is much more than a successful athlete, he is a successful person. He has used some of his salary to quietly fund programs and charities he believes in. When the Grizzlies left Vancouver to relocate to Memphis, abandoning their 3-year commitment to youth basketball in Vancouver, Steve picked up the tab. When Dallas played in Seattle on Feb. 12th Steve paid for 250 young players to be bused down from Vancouver for the game. He also asked his coach if he could pay for better transportation and facilities for the under-funded Olympic team. He never forgets the coaches, family and friends who supported him in his quest for success. Which takes us right back to his friendship with Simon.

SIMON IBELL'S MISSIONS

Simon has two missions in life, which are to help fund research into MPS and to deliver a message to the world, particularly to kids, that differences are not deficiencies. He says, 'I believe I have MPS for a reason, because I can deal with it.' (Notice that the first four letters of I believe spell out Simon Ibell's last name.) When Lance Armstrong was struggling with cancer he said, 'I believed in belief for its own shining sake.'

To help raise awareness about MPS Simon is planning a 'Bike 4 MPS' ride on Vancouver Island this summer.

He's learned that it's tough to get sponsorship for a disease that nobody seems to have heard of. One apparently dyslexic person was heard to remark, 'I'm not giving money for PMS.' But Simon is a role model for the role models and some of Canada's world ranked athletes such as Olympic triathlete gold medallist, Simon Whitfield, and world champion mountain biker, Roland Green, were on hand to launch 'Bike for MPS'. Roland is training with the Tour de France champion U.S. Postal Team and is planning to take Simon to the California training camp to meet Lance Armstrong. (Lance is a great story in his own right.) Simon is also contacting Oprah as a potential guest for her show.

Now the story gets really good. Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, has a history of being fined for criticizing officials. His response is always to double the fine by giving a matching amount to charity. Early in January he sent a check to Simon for $125,000 for 'Bike 4 MPS'. (This story would be a natural for Sports Illustrated. S.I. salutes S.I.)

So there are my friends Simon and Steve, whose passion, purpose and sense of gratitude make them quite extraordinary. They are fortunate to have parents who gave unconditional love to all their children and gave unconditional support to their impossible dreams.

To learn more about and contribute to 'Bike 4 MPS' visit www.bike4mps.org or email: bike4mps@hotmail.com. Click here to read the Bike 4 MPS News Release.

Timing is everything. In case some of your New Year's Resolutions slipped during January and February, here's another chance with 10 of the best we've seen.

By Mike Lipkin

Resolution: intentions that one formulates mentally for virtuous conduct; boldness and firmness of purpose; (Oxford Dictionary)

So it’s December 2001. You’ve almost made it through another year, the mother of all years. How are you feeling? Exhausted? Scared? Depressed? Relieved? Angry? Devastated? Grateful? Nervous? Confident? All of the above? You’re in good company. Welcome to the Fear Economy. No one truly knows what’s really going on anymore. Confusion is the national state of mind. Ninety percent of us worry about the next terrorist attack; more than half of us doubt our ability to manage life’s increasing complexity; two thirds of us believe we won’t be able to take care of ourselves when we grow old and one out of two of us will die from heart disease, cancer or diabetes. We’re into a deep recession and even the mail can kill you. Not a pretty picture. Not a pretty world.

It’s not fair, you say. Maybe. But fairness doesn’t live here anymore. It’s been replaced by massive unpredictability. In the new borderless world, nothing is unimaginable — for better or for worse. Even two oceans can’t protect us from the underdogs who turn into the underwolves and bite back. It’s been the best of times. Are we now headed for the worst of times? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Nothing in life has any meaning, except the meaning you give it. One thing is for certain, though, if you’re still in pursuit of health, wealth and personal well-being, you’ll find it in only one place: deep within yourself. According to the Environics’ Social Values Research, the number one indexed value of those people who thrive on these times of chaos and change is Autonomy, the belief that, irrespective of circumstance, they are in control of their own destiny. They live by Viktor Frankl’s maxim: It’s not what you expect of life, it’s what life expects of you. As the saying goes, you can’t always get the weather you like, but you can always like the weather you get.

So what does life expect of you in 2002? Better yet, what do you expect of yourself? What intentions have you formulated for virtuous conduct next year? As importantly, how strong is your commitment to your commitments? For the vast majority of us, New Year Resolutions begin evaporating as soon as they’re made. Often, they’re made tongue-in-cheek with alcohol fueled fervor. Even as we make them, we remember what happened to our vows last year, and we smile to ourselves, "Yes, this will be the year I honor my resolutions…" Yeah, right.

Well, here’s the defining truth of 2002: we are all being held to a higher standard. The age of indulgence ended on September 11. It’s been replaced by the age of accountability. If not you, then who? There is no "they". No one and no-thing are going to make things better. There are only two megatribes of people - those who make it happen and those who wonder what happened. As the ads for Kenneth Cole declare, "It’s not what you stand in, it’s what you stand for." The most valuable people will be those who consistently enhance the people and the world around them. Anyone can have an excellent game, but only the best have game excellence. So how do you achieve game excellence when the game is getting tougher and tougher? You make the right resolutions, and then you follow through. You practice what the Japanese call Maykoto: You say what you’ll do and then you do what you say. Your yes means yes and your no means no.

So here are ten of the best New Year’s Resolutions you can make. They are based on The Ten Personal Best Practices formulated by Environics/Lipkin, the specialist Motivation Company in the Environics Research Group. These are the personal strategies and actions designed to achieve maximum impact in a topsy-turvy world:

1. Resolve to stay brutally optimistic. See the opportunity in every difficulty not the difficulty in every opportunity. Anticipate the most favorable outcome out of every situation. Whatever you look for, that’s what you’ll find. We can get better or we can get bitter. It all depends on the lessons we draw from each experience. Hope is not a place in B.C. It’s the indispensable energy of success. Optimism is like electricity — very little happens without it. No self-pity parties allowed, especially when others are depending on you. Know this truth: you have all the resources you’ll ever need to handle all the challenges you’ll ever have. It’s in the true emergencies that the true you emerges.
   
   
2. Resolve to identify the most powerful benefit you offer to the people around you and then deliver it. "The purpose of life" said George Bernard Shaw, "is a life of purpose". What’s yours? Where are you investing your personal energy — on self-preservation or adding value to others. Here’s the well-being paradox: if you’re only concerned about yourself, you cannot take care of yourself. Only by helping others, can you succeed. This is not the creed of the Good Samaritan. It’s the primary source of motivation that sustains the Go-To people in tough times. So, for example, my mission is "To excite people into action." I have to walk that talk. I have to be excited so I can excite others.
   
   
3. Resolve to pump up your Personal Vitality. In the game of life it’s not about who’s right, it’s about who’s left. Over 60 percent of us are over 36 years old. The real currency of the 2000’s is not cash, it’s vitality. It’s the ability to keep going 24/7/365 with vigor and verve. All you are to the people around you is a source of energy. Either you lift them up or you bring them down. And you cannot give what you don’t have. Ninety percent of all adults do no physical exercise at all. More than half of us is overweight. A third of us still smoke. So this year, resolve to enhance your physical, emotional and mental vitality. Take just a small step. Invest in a gentle program. First you’ll amaze yourself and then you’ll amaze everybody else.
   
   
4. Resolve to be Habitually Generous. Success is not something you pursue. It’s something you attract by what you become. The more you give of yourself, the more favors you attract from others. It’s called The Law of Reciprocity. People have a deep-rooted drive to give back. So resolve to proactively search for ways to contribute to others. Live above the line. If the line represents others’ expectations of you, consistently exceed those expectations. You’ll develop what Ken Blanchard calls "Raving Fans", people who become walking billboards for you, your product and your service. And you’ll be able to call in favors when you need them most.
   
   
5. Resolve to go on a mental diet. Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can scar you for life. It’s humans, not elephants, who never forget. So resolve to use the language of Conciliation, not the language of Confrontation. Avoid the temptation to vent your negativity on others. Instead, seize every opportunity to describe what’s going on around you in an empowering manner. Use words that express your joie de vivre and connection with others. The words you use determine the nature of your experience. Make sure they’re good ones.
   
   
6. Resolve to be a Global Citizen, fully open to the cultures and influences of others. There is a direct correlation between personal well-being and openness to other peoples’ ideas and cultures. If someone has a different point of view to you, they’re probably right as well. There are no absolutes anymore. No one has a patent on right and wrong. So celebrate diversity. Welcome different opinions. Become a one-person champion for plurality. Not only will you make lots of new friends, but you’ll also gather multiple reference points to help you resolve personal challenges.
   
   
7. Resolve to take Control of Your Destiny. Don’t be so busy trying to make a living that you forget to make a life. You’re in charge of your own life, so take charge. Decide who you want to be and what you want to achieve. And then stride boldly towards your vision. Give yourself a personal heads-up. The most precious human commodity today is Confidence. That’s what people crave both in themselves and in others. Confidence and Control of Destiny are Siamese Twins. Unless you believe that you are in control of your destiny, how can you be confident? And remember this truth: Wherever you are right now is where you are supposed to be right now because that’s where you are right now. So deal with it and move on.
   
   
8. Resolve to increase your human connectivity. The person with the best connections wins. The wider your network, the more opportunities you generate. It’s all about trust. And it’s all about profile — your presence in the minds of the people who matter. So irrespective of what you do for a living, resolve to reach out. Invest at least ten percent of your time broadening your sphere of influence. Connect other people to opportunities within your network — cross pollinate their potential. When you are with others, make every encounter a pleasurable one. Go for the magic in them, and they will go for the magic in you. When you listen, truly listen. Demonstrate how much you enjoy being with them. And burn your fear of rejection. There is no such thing as rejection anyway - there are just those people who can’t appreciate quality.
   
   
9. Resolve to increase your creativity by letting go of the familiar. Nothing is as far away as yesterday. As Salman Rushdie writes, every year is the Stone Age to the year that follows it. Experience can be the ultimate liability because the past is a very different place to the future. See the world through fresh eyes everyday. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. So be ready. Open yourself up to inspiration and it will find you. Listen to your intuition and follow your instincts, they’ll tell you what to do before your head has had a chance to figure it out. I promise you that you are a Picasso or Einstein at something. Discover what it is and then develop it to the maximum. For example, I believe I am a Picasso at using the written and spoken word to excite others. That’s why I now process all my experiences to help me enhance that skill. What’s your Picasso? How are you developing it?
   
   
10. Resolve to be you because others are already taken. You and I are at our best when we’re being authentic. We’re at our best when we’re being positively spontaneous because that’s when all our energy is being invested in the person in front of us or the task at hand. In a hyper-competitive world, we cannot afford to second-guess ourselves. If you’re hiding behind a mask or trying to be what you’re not, timidity and ambivalence will get you. Success in the new, new age is all about speed. Who dares, wins. He who hesitates is lost. So jettison the Impostor Syndrome — the fear that one day someone is going to discover that you’re not that clever. You’ve earned the right to be you, others want you to be you, so step up and be the best you can be. Nelson Mandela expressed it best in his Inauguration speech as President of South Africa on May 10 1994:

"We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." (Note. These words were actually written by Marianne Williamson)

So there you have it, ten New Year Resolutions to improve your life in 2002. If all you do, though, is make one New Year’s resolution and then really stick to it, 2002 will be a great year for you. So decide. Fight the Good Fight, stay the course, and keep the faith. And as Luke Skywalker said to Han Solo, "May the Force be with you!"

A Few of Our Favorite Things

Health and Wellness Webzines, Magazines and Newsletters

At Speakwell we subscribe to various journals and newsletters that relate to wellness, some on-line and some as hard copy. Here are our top 5 which we find informative, useful and stimulating. There is an old temptation, probably associated with my years as a university prof., to add professional credibility to the list by including some heavy weight medical journals. We use these journals when appropriate, but their overwhelming focus is the treatment of sickness not the attainment of high level wellness, their editorial boards tend to be very conservative and their life blood is the advertising of pharmaceutical companies whose interests they often reflect.

When I looked at the list of journals which we actually read cover to cover and whose information is cutting edge and provocative, I discovered one commonality. None of them carry advertising. Like "Well" they do not feature extensive lists of references, but do draw from credible sources. I have never had a problem tracking down the original reference or research from which information is drawn.

Top 5

1. Ardell Wellness Report

Not for everybody, and not always for me. Don Ardell is a prolific, relentless promoter of high level wellness. He is opinionated, provocative, and his rants make him the Dennis Miller of wellness. Don practices what he preaches (or maybe preaches what he practices, it doesn't matter) and is a world champion in the over 60 (Methuselah) age group of triathlons.

What I like about Don's writing is that he doesn't play favorites and, when appropriate will be critical of big business, the Surgeon General, vitamins, politics, religion, and even wellness conferences. The latter two get the full Ardell treatment in issue 113 of his on-line Wellness Report.

Don is a disciple of Halbert Dunn who first gave us the term 'high level wellness' in the 1950's. He has an extensive web site which actually does carry ads. But his weekly electronic Ardell Wellness Report is ad-free, thought provoking and often fun. He actually writes a daily wellness focused essay which can be accessed on the web at: www.seekwellness.com/wellness/ardell_wellness_report.htm When you write an essay a day, they can't all be great, but even Shakespeare and Bob Dylan have come up with a few clunkers. Don makes us think, he makes us laugh, he's not afraid to offend, he does not have a 'political correctness' checker built into his computer or his brain. In a 'play it safe', economically driven world we need Don's irreverence, his sense of fun and his healthy skepticism of gurus who drive Cadillacs (or even ride bicycles).
I think what sets the EAWR apart from other wellness journals and webzines is that Don has mastered the informality and immediacy of electronic communication. It's not just another journal that's reproduced online.

There's an old saying, 'Better write for yourself and have no public, than write for the public and have no self.' Don writes for himself but manages to keep a strong public following. The Speakwell Oscar goes to the Electronic Ardell Wellness Report.

2. Nutrition Action

This is so far ahead of any other nutrition-related journal that there's no runner-up in this category. They have excellent feature articles and provide accessible, useful information about many of the brand name foods that fill our supermarket shelves. Very, very good value at: http://www.cspinet.org/nah/

3. Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter

Each issue of the Tufts newsletter seems to feature at least one article that presents new information or new perspectives on topics dear to our heart at Speakwell. It is well laid out, has a strong editorial board and always features intriguing little nuggets of information that are ideal for company newsletters. I wish they would provide a few more references to facilitate further research on featured articles. Check out: http://healthletter.tufts.edu/

4. Berkeley Wellness Letter

The grandparent of wellness newsletters. The layout format and content of the Berkeley newsletter has been a template for a number of similar publications. I felt that it got a little predictable a couple of years back, but recent issues have been insightful, timely and very readable. Like the Tufts newsletter, I wish it gave a bit more information about the source of some of its articles. Check out: www.berkeleywellness.com

5. Consumer Reports on Health

Consumer Reports uses a tabloid format to present current health related information. One of the things we like about Consumer Report is the liberal use of quizzes, tables, flow charts, illustrations and graphs to make it more visually appealing and interactive. It is strong on safety issues and consistently carries good content on fitness and nutrition. Like the Tufts and Berkeley newsletters it regularly addresses the use of alternative therapies in the prevention of, or treatment for, specific medical conditions. Check out: www.consumerreports.org/Services/health.html

Honorable Mention

American Fitness Magazine

A glossy, with a mixed bag of articles. Peg Jordan's editorials alone are often worth the price of the journal. Check out: http://www.afaa.com/600.asp

Employee Health and Productivity

A Canadian publication whose title is self-explanatory. Good graphics, stylish and smart. Well worth the subscription price for any individuals or companies involved in worksite health.

Update: This magazine is no longer in print. The publisher, Michael Moriarity, now works for the Institute for Health & Productivity Management. Their magazine has the same "look" and feel as the Employee Health and Productivity magazine. Their web site is: http://www.ihpm.org/magazine.htm

John Hopkins Medical Letter Health After 50

A similar format to the Berkeley and Tufts newsletters. The editorial board is made up entirely of MD's, so aging is looked at through a medical lens. They present good, reliable information which, in a world of Enron and health slams, is welcome. Overall, a solid little journal that has yet to win our hearts.

When Lifestyle Becomes a Deathstyle
and Nobody Seems to Care

by Dr. Martin Collis

People in North America are committing sedentary suicide. I receive almost daily information about the deadly double whammy of inactivity and careless food consumption. We know what's happening, we know it's costing billions and billions of dollars and causing untold misery, we know the solutions and yet we seem to lack the political will at almost every level to address the problems. We also seem to lack the personal will to take matters into our own hands and move.

In December 2001 the Surgeon General of the U.S. released a report stating that the epidemic of overweight and obesity is threatening to wipe out the gains made by other medical advances. "In 1999 an estimated 61% of U.S. adults were overweight. Obesity among adults has doubled since 1980, while overweight among adolescents has tripled. Less than one-third of Americans meet the federal recommendations to engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least 5 days a week, while 40% of adults engage in no leisure-time physical activity at all." The following figures from the Center for Disease Control vividly illustrate the speed and inclusiveness of the spread of obesity and overweight in the last decade of 2000.

The picture is similar in Canada with children and adults getting fatter and less active year by year. I don't have a graphic province by province picture but analysis of national surveys reveals a familiar pattern. The following graph shows the increase in obesity in Canada for adults and children in the 15-year period between 1981 and 1996.

It's worth noting that people don't plan to get fat and unfit. They don't go to college courses on how to get Type 2 diabetes or how to increase their vulnerability to heart disease, cancer and hypertension. They are learning their death-styles from the relentless advertising of the multinational corporations. They learn to supersize their meals, they learn not to miss 'must watch t.v', they learn there are emails and special offers to respond to on their computers and that there are superstores to drive to. They learn to live a life for which their bodies and minds were not designed.

If fatness were a communicable disease there would have been billions of dollars spent to deal with the epidemic, but the fact that it is largely related to inappropriate choices seems to draw little interest from politicians and school administrators. Writing in the Ardell Wellness Report E-AWR #108 Don Ardell had the following observations about political and institutional support for fitness. "It's discouraging that we have lost nearly all the support for fitness that was in place decades ago. For example, many do not realize that fitness was once important enough for presidents to lead the way. President Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness; President Kennedy broadened the mandate of the Council to become the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) and for a while things were going well. Thirty two states had Governor's Councils on Physical Fitness and Health, worksite health and fitness programs were in place and two national organizations promoted healthy lifestyles, namely, the National Association of Governors'Councils on Physical Activity and Sports and the American Association for Fitness in Business and Industry. Even the feds had their own fitness and health program called the Federal Interagency Fitness and Health Council (FIFHC). All this is basically gone now. The President's Council is down to four employees, most of the other organizations mentioned are gone, or drastically reduced and underfunded, and only the State of Illinois still requires fitness in the grade schools."

I was interested to see whether President Bush would recognize the significance of the problem in his recent State of the Union address. When I last spoke to Dr. Kenneth Cooper, just before the election, he told me that if George Bush were elected he would be the fittest president he had tested. His physical fitness has probably served him well in challenging times, but unfortunately the fattening of America didn't make it on to the Presidential agenda for his address on January 29th. To paraphrase Shakespeare 'There's something rotten in the states of the States' (Not to mention Canada). The danger lies not just in other lands, in the form of rogue regimes and fanatical terrorists. A nation's might and sense of purpose can be quietly eroded from within by an overfed, underexercised populace.

I've always liked the writing of Rudyard Kipling and can remember the essence, though not the exact wording, of one of his poems.

Nations have passed away and left no traces.
And history gives the single cause of it.
In different times and many different places
They failed because their people were not fit.

Canada reflects the same type of blinkered thinking. Federal funding for the superb Participaction organization has been reduced to such a paltry level as to make it inoperable. (In response to the public outcry I wouldn't be surprised if the feds do come up with some face-saving dollars.) The Federal Government Department of Fitness Canada has long since disappeared, as have numerous other Federal and provincial fitness initiatives. In my own province of British Columbia there used to be more than 20 supervisors of physical education to service all the major school districts, today there are none. Physical education is no longer required in grades 11 and 12 and the Quality Daily Physical Education concept is fighting a losing battle in many school districts.

It's almost an Alice in Wonderland situation in which the costs of inactivity are threatening to bankrupt health care plans, and yet governments withdraw funding and support for fitness and physical activity. The purse strings can be loosened to treat the sicknesses that result from inactivity, but not for programs of prevention or high level wellness.

There's an old poem about people falling over a cliff and being killed or badly injured. The final verse goes as follows:

'The people said something would have to be done.
But their answers did not at all tally.
Some said put a fence round the edge of the cliff,
Some, an ambulance down in the valley.'

Right now we are spending over 90% of our health care dollars on "ambulances down in the valley" when fence building is the only practical solution. As an example, type 2 diabetes is closely linked to lifestyle and the cost of treatment in Canada is currently estimated at $10 billion with an expected doubling in the next ten years. Extrapolating from these figures, the cost of diabetes in the U.S.A. will currently be in excess of $100 billion with more to come as the nation continues to get fatter.

Even the conservative, bottom-lined focussed Wall Street Journal is aware of the problems associated with inactivity. In May 2000 they issued a 20-page report headed by the following statement.

In the Fall edition of 'Well' I reported on the work of econometrics company Health Management Associates in estimating the fiscal impact of a sedentary lifestyle on the states of New York and North Carolina. They wrote, "Overall, the combined $5 billion cost estimate for physical inactivity in N. Carolina and New York is very conservative, perhaps only one third to one fourth of the actual cost of all types of medical claims associated with inactivity."

Whether the total cost of inactivity in North America is $200 billion, $300 billion or $400 billion it's an obscenely high figure and money is just the measurable side effect of the problem. What is less easy to calculate is the misery, sickness, pain, stress, family upset and overall diminished performance associated with hypokinetic (lack of movement) disease. The frustrating factor is that so much of the financial cost and mind/body misery is preventable.

Better to run in fields for health unbought.
Than fee the doctor for nauseous drought.
The wise for cure on exercise depend
God never gave his work for man to mend

John Dryden

Solutions

In a brief article we can't deal with all the dimensions of fitness, so let's stay with the Surgeon General's recommendation of 30 minutes of activity/day.

It is vital that anyone who wants their body/mind to function well sets aside at least 30 minutes each day for purposeful exercise. That is about 1/50th of each 24 hour period. If you feel you're too old, too embarrassed, too busy, too tired, or too committed to find 1/2 hour in a day to look after the needs of your body/mind take a careful look at your priorities and life balance. (Incidentally, TOO is a blocking word for Totally Out Of the question.) Try not to TOO yourself out of exercise. If you think you're too old look at Mavis Lundgren who did her 1st marathon at 70 years of age, and is shown here with my friend Mike Suminski, ready to start her 62nd marathon at age 92 1/2.

10,000 Steps

There is an intriguing program called "10,000 Steps" in which taking 10,000 steps becomes your target each day. One thing we quickly discovered at Speakwell is that doing10,000 steps takes considerably more than 30 minutes. We tended to walk at about 120 steps/minute giving us 3,600 steps for each 1/2 hour. This leaves another 6400 steps to be found during the rest of the day. Which is a lot. To attain 10,000 steps it seemed more realistic to do one hour of purposeful walking leaving only about 3,000 for the rest of the day's activities. The 10,000 steps concept points out that you can accumulate the benefits of physical activity throughout your day. You might get 3,000 to 7,000 steps by purposeful walking from 1/2 to 1 hour, but need to find other movement opportunities during the day. Try to build some activity into your daily commute, use stairs whenever possible (I count each riser as 3 steps), walk rather than sit while waiting at airports, look at physical tasks as exercise opportunities rather than inconveniences.

Have a look at the slideshow that explains this in more detail. (Slides courtesy of leading epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Blair of the Aerobic Institute in Dallas.)

In caloric terms you burn approximately 50 calories for each 1,000 steps which means 10,000 steps makes a 500 calorie difference in your day, in addition to giving you a good cardiovascular work out. A good rule of thumb is:

5,000 steps - minimum acceptable level

10,000 steps - health maintenance/enhancement

15,000 steps - health enhancement and weight loss if combined with some caloric restriction

When walking, I often think it's like having 3 hearts, 1 in your chest and 1 in each leg, gently assisting the circulation with every step. Walking is a mind clearing, stress reducing, energizing activity. To walk you don't need expensive equipment, you don't have to pay membership dues, there's no need for special clothing, you can do it almost anywhere and any time and, unless you're really clumsy, you tend not to get injured. The rhythmic, meditative aspect of walking can make it a wordless religion.

Counting steps is not a problem with the use of a pedometer. At Speakwell we've been road-testing some pedometers and find them functional and very reinforcing. I am currently wearing a matchbook-sized pedometer which registers steps, calories and distance traveled. Even on busy days and travel days I have a non-negotiable minimum of 10,000 steps which, on a couple of occasions, has prompted a few late night circuits of my house or hotel. If you'd like to own a pedometer contact us at Speakwell (email mcollis@speakwell.com or phone toll free 1-866-721-6940) where we can get one for you or point you to a supplier. For information about walking check out http://walking.about.com/ and for information about the 'Walking Counts' program check out http://walkingcounts.com/home.html. For a free 'Walking Connection' internet magazine check out http://www.walkingconnection.com/.

Recent issues of the Berkeley and Tufts newsletter (see 'Some of our Favorite Things' article in this issue) both referred a study that appeared recently in 'Circulation.' Doctors at the University of Texas re-tested 5 men whom they had previously tested 30 years earlier. Not surprisingly, the men had gained weight and were less fit. The men, now in their 50's, were given a 6 month exercise program in which they could choose from walking, jogging and cycling. Over the course of 6 months they worked up to about 4 1/2 hours training a week, almost 40 minutes/day. The result of this fairly modest training enabled the men to recover 100% of their age-related decline in cardiovascular fitness.

In the original study in 1966 the subjects were given 21 days complete bed rest to see its impact of health and fitness. The 3 weeks bed rest proved to be more detrimental to their cardiovascular fitness than 30 years of aging.

YOU MUST FIND TIME TO MOVE.

In the words of the Eagles, "Did you get tired, or did you just get lazy." We've become lazy, and we are paying a high price.

Exercise is the Wonder Drug

by New Speakwell Speaker, Anthony Ocana, M.D.

The road ahead is slick with fresh rain. Fog hangs above the towering conifers that line the road as it curves out of sight. A streak of magenta, where the road meets the horizon, is turning reluctantly into another Vancouver sunrise.

As she approaches the crest of the hill, Emily’s breath grows heavy. Push, pull, push, pull… she thinks, trying to filter out the searing pain coming from her thighs and calves. Slowly the heaviness begins to lift like the fog and she feels the wind on her face again, as she cycles the last stretch home.

Peeling off the warm layers and jumping into the shower, she slows momentarily as she catches a glimpse of her ever-so-slightly more muscular body in the mirror crossing the bathroom floor. "That’s good", she thinks. "I can do this". The warm water feels good as she basks in the glow of another well-deserved fitness high.

Long known to be a source of fitness and health, physical activity is now being recognized for its ability to improve mental health.

The runner’s high, a euphoric state associated with endurance activities, is based on the release of morphine- like chemicals into the brain. These neuro-chemicals, called endorphins are thought to be the body’s natural pain-killers. Interestingly, as more research becomes available, it is becoming clear that the mental health benefits of exercise extend beyond the runner’s high.

According to Dr. Jack Raglin, of Indiana University, an authority on exercise and depression. Exactly how exercise works remains a mystery. "We do know that the benefits of exercise are not dependent upon endorphin release, because we find mood improvements and psychological benefits occurring in exercise doses that are too mild to result in much endorphin production. This is helpful because not everyone has the motivation or skill to train for a triathlon. In fact we now know that as little as 30 minutes of brisk walking a day has very profound effects on health and mood and these effects can be felt in the short term, even immediately in some cases", says Raglin.

Emily is not cycling, running and swimming because she wants to lose weight or get in shape. She has been prescribed this regimen, by her physician, to help her battle anxiety, insomnia and burnout.

Evolutionarily speaking, we are wired for physical activity. Survival depended on being able to withstand long stretches of heavy work such as hunting, gathering, defending or attacking. Physical activity is therefore evolutionarily linked to health, pleasure and longevity.

We know that mental health is more than good mood. It includes energy, motivation, drive, focus, pleasure and self control. Neuro-chemically speaking we can assign the different attributes of mental health to three main neuro-chemicals called catecholamines:

1. Serotonin, the chemical of joy, soothing and digestion
2. Noradrenaline, the neurochemical of energy, motivation and drive
3. Dopamine, the neurochemical of focus, control and reward

The hypothesis is that physical activity affects mood in many ways. Given its central role in health, and the multiplicity of mood improvements associated with activity, it is reasonable to hypothesize that it probably raises all neurotransmitters.

Why is this still a mystery? Well, probably because we have no easy way to measure neurotransmitters in humans. As such, we are left to observe the mood changes associated with activity and extrapolate from there to the likely state of brain chemistry.

Support for this can be seen in a recent 10-month study conducted at Duke University Medical Centre, Durham, North Carolina. The researchers assessed 156 adult patients who suffer from major depressive disorder (MDD). Participants were randomly assigned to an antidepressant medication, aerobic exercise, or a combination of the two. Assessments were carried out at the beginning of the study, at 4 months, and 6 months after the study ended. Researchers found that not only was exercise as effective as the medication, but also that the people who exercised were significantly less likely than the group who took medication to relapse into depression.

When Emily gets out of the shower and pats her hair dry, she looks at her self with a new fondness. She feels a sense of accomplishment that she hasn’t felt for a long time. "Not bad" she thinks. "I like getting up in the morning, digging deep, pushing myself and having a good sweat".

Struggling to fight off the winter blues, Emily has joined a running club. She likes the social connections she’s making. They aren’t friends yet, but they could be.

She bought herself a heart rate monitor and a speedometer for her bike. She likes to see her average speed climb slowly week after week. She feel a sense of accomplishment watching herself progress, knocking off the workouts like so many toy soldiers on a battle-field.

She’s not on a diet, but she feels more committed to eating consciously because she feels invested in her health in a way that she didn’t before. All these changes are the result of the commitment to activity she made when her psychiatrist diagnosed her with anxiety and insomnia after her breakdown last spring.

Besides the anxiety and insomnia, her psychiatrist also recognized a pattern similar to attention deficit disorder in the way she was always easily distracted and having difficulty finishing projects. Never one to sit still, Emily kept turning up the pressure on herself, taking on more responsibility, more travel and bigger and harder assignments. Not pushing herself seemed so boring.

But driving herself so hard, she became less and less able to enjoy life’s little pressures. She had become so overworked she could not sleep. She became short-tempered, ineffective, stressed out and overwhelmed. She was drinking so much coffee that she often found herself feeling angry, sad and anxious all at the same time. Eventually she burned herself out and had to take time off work. That’s when, with the help of her employer and family doctor, she went to seek professional help.

She had coped well enough before and was reluctant to take medication, but she knew that the status quo was not an option. Her psychiatrist told her that she needed to exercise to raise her neuro-transmitter levels, especially dopamine, as that would improve her focus, decrease irritability and boredom and help reduce her cravings for more and more stimulation.

Her psychiatrist was basing his advice on a recent study that suggests that the antidepressant effects of exercise may be due to a chemical called phenylethylamine, the precursor of the catecholamines: serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2001; 35: 342-3)

Of note is the fact that dopamine releasing neurons project to many different parts of the brain regulating attention, pleasure, organization, planning, stress management, self control and sexual function. Mol Psychiatry 2000 Jan;5(1):14-21.

One of the traits Emily has always struggled with was a predisposition to become easily bored. Despite having a good relationship, healthy family and a good job, Emily was always looking for something new.

Novelty seeking is a trait that is hypothesized to have survived in early humans because it conferred an advantage in mating and reproduction. In fact, more than half of the people with attention deficit disorder have this defect in the dopamine receptor, according to Dr. Robert K. Moyzis of the University of California, Irvine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2002;99:309-314.

Emily told the psychiatrist of the history of alcoholism, rage and workaholism that ran in her family. Numerous different kinds of studies including twin studies, tell us that about 80% of low dopamine syndromes are genetic. Several population studies have shown attention deficit disorder prevalence rates range from 3% to 10%. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2000;3(suppl 1):S60. Abstract S.38.2.

Maybe that’s why Emily has always felt she was swimming against the current. Now that she has found exercise she feels a sense of peace and grounding that she never knew before.

Dr. Anthony Ocana is a family doctor, dietitian and physician psychotherapist.
He can be reached at 604-222-2256 for a medical consultation.

Do What You Always Did,
Get What You Always Got!

by Dr. Keith Jeffery

I love this powerful saying. So often these days we keep doing the same thing over and over again, but for some reason we expect different results (some say this is the definition of insanity). Fact is, we just get into a rut, we get busy.

But (alas) the changes you want will not happen magically. If you are not currently in shape, you need a new exercise program.

If you are currently gaining weight, then eating the same meals and snacks will not help you lose weight. If you are currently stressed to the max, what lifestyle changes will you make to find balance and relaxation? Change will happen in your life only if you take actions. Different, new, fresh, innovative actions. In this information age, it's easy to find all sorts of new and exciting ideas! That said, don't try and do it all at once. The key is to tackle one area at a time. Take baby steps. An ancient sentence sums it up... a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

ACTION: Choose a single focus! Decide on the number one area in your life that you would like to change or improve. Spend a week or two focusing only on this one area. Research the net, read, consult experts. Then create a plan, and stick with it.

Rather than focusing on the problem, focus on the results of your future actions, like increased relaxation, less weight, more stamina. Then your mind set will be positive and proactive, not negative, and you will move forward with a smile. Begin your new plan, and make a commitment to stick with it. If you make the steps easy, "do-able" and enjoyable, then it is easy to stay on track. Commit for a month. Remember that anything you do consistently for 30 days becomes habit and therefore an integral part of your life. Once you are on track and moving in the right direction, then choose a second area you wish to improve. And repeat the above procedure. And so on...

Remember, life is way too serious these days, so have fun with the process.

For easy, "do-able" and enjoyable stress reduction and fitness, visit www.easytaichi.com and www.4minutefitness.com

Lose 10 pounds and have fun doing it!

Visit www.best-weight.com

To order these great products click here.

Acronyms

Adroitly Created Representations Of Notions, You Might Say.

From http://www.acronyms.co.nz/

Do you have a favourite acronym that you would like to share in the next issue of WELL? If so, fill out the following form and press send. Be sure to include your name and email address so that we can give you credit.

Acronym:		Name:
Phrase:		Email:

Poetry

"Be Patient Poem" By Ranier Maria Rilke Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart Try to love the questions themselves Do not seek the answers Which cannot be given because you would not be able to live them And the point is, to live everything Live the questions now Perhaps you will then gradually without noticing it live along some distant day Into the answers.

 

"Lies" By Yevtushenko Telling lies to the young is wrong. Proving to them that lies are true is wrong. Telling them that God's in his heaven And all's well with the world is wrong. The young know what you mean. The young are people. Tell them the difficulties can't be counted, and let them see not only what will be but see with clarity these present times. Say obstacles exist they must encounter sorrow happens, hardship happens. The hell with it. Who never knew the price of happiness will not be happy. Forgive no error you recognize, it will repeat itself, increase, and afterwards our pupils will not forgive in us what we forgave.

Quotes

Country Wisdom

A few quotes from country songs
and a few country sayings.

	Easy's getting harder every day. - Iris Dement Sometimes you've got to sing Like you don't need the money Sometimes you've got to love Like you'll never get hurt. - Susanna Clark
	Ain't no money in poetry And that's what sets the poets free But I've had all the freedom I can stand. - Guy Clark   Mistakes are only horses in disguise No use to ride'm over 'cause we couldn't do it different if we tried. - Guy Clark
	Give me half of what killed Elvis And you can call me King. - Chris Wall
	You're losing all your highs and lows Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away. - Eagles (Note: The best description of burnout I've heard)
	I just left myself today I got up and walked away - Terry Allan
	Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a raindance. - Unknown Never ask a barber if you need a haircut. - Unknown Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement. - Unknown If I'd shot you when I first met you I'd be out by now. - Unknown

Speaking Engagements

November 1 — Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Conference — Victoria, BC

November 1 — Pension Board — Victoria, BC

November 2 — Lifesaving Society Symposium — Richmond, BC

November 16 — Central Care Homes — Victoria, BC

November 19 & 22 — Vancouver General Hospital Staff Education Day — Vancouver, BC

November 23 — Terry Fox Secondary School Staff Professional Development Day — Port Coquitlam, BC

November 23 — Kwayhquitlum Middle School Professional Development Day — Port Coquitlam, BC

November 27 — Awareness Conference — Vancouver, BC

December 10 — Whistler 2001 Communicating Physical Activity & Health Messages Conference — Whistler, BC

December 17 — Ministry of Community & Social Services -Mississauga, ON

January 26 — McMaster Residence Life Conference — Hamilton, ON

February 7 — Regina Health District Staff Education Day — Regina, SK

February 10 — BC Psychologists Association Conference -Vancouver, BC

February 15 — School District No. 23 & CEA Professional Development Day — Kelowna, BC

February 20 — Palliative Care Initiative #1 Presentation — North Bay, ON

February 23 — United Way Board Basics Training & Staff Development Conference — Victoria, BC

February 27 — BCIT Professional Development Day — Vancouver, BC

March 1 — Centra Gas BC Inc. — Parksville. BC

March 7 — Correctional Services of Canada — Manning Park, BC

March 11 — University of Victoria Commerce Business Banquet — Victoria, BC

March 18 — Health Authorities Forum — Edmonton, AB

March 20 — Cornell University Wellness Program — Ithaca, NY

April 3 & 4 — Kern County Public Health Department — Bakersfield, CA

April 8 — Pacific Sport Seminar — Victoria, BC

April 14 — Focus Conference — Victoria, BC

April 28 & 29 — Recreation Conference — Slave Lake, AB

May 1 — Ohio Dept. of Health/WIC — Columbus, OH

May 3 — Surrey Teachers District Convention -Surrey, BC

May 24 — Workplace Health, Safety & Compensation Commission of New Brunswick — Saint John, NB

June tba — Center for Cirriculum, Transfer & Technology -Victoria, BC

June 1 — BC Human Resources Management Association — Nanaimo, BC

June 8 — Dietitians of Canada Annual Conference — St. John, NB

June 13 — Canadian Elevator Association — Victoria, BC

June 15 — Nurses Conference — Fairmont Hot Springs, BC

June 26 — Seaside Health Promotion Conference — Seaside, OR

October 18 & 19 — Early Childhood Educators Conference — Cranbrook, BC

October 22 — Western Canada Educational Administrators Conference — Kananaskis AB

November 6 — Saskatchewan Credit Union Central Symposium — Saskatoon, SK

Visions of Wellness

Young Artist
Sent to us by Ken Larsen, with the suggestion to put magic markers out of reach of your kids.

Humour

Do you have A.A.A.D.D.?

Medical science (Ha!) has finally found a diagnosis for this Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder…
This is how it goes: I decide to wash the car; I start toward the garage and notice the mail on the table. Ok, I'm going to wash the car. But first I'm going to go through the mail. I lay the car keys down on the desk, discard the junk mail and I notice the trashcan is full. Ok, I'll just put the bills on my desk and take the trashcan out, but since I'm going to be near the mailbox anyway, I'll pay these few bills first. Now, where is my checkbook? Oops, there's only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk. Oh, there's the coke I was drinking. I'm going to look for those checks. But first I need to put my coke further away from the computer, oh maybe I'll pop it into the fridge to keep it cold for a while. I head towards the kitchen and my flowers catch my eye, they need some water. I set the coke on the counter and ooh oh! There are my glasses. I was looking for them all morning! I'd better put them away first. I fill a container with water and head for the flowerpots - - Aaaaaagh! Someone left the TV remote in the kitchen. We'll never think to look in the kitchen tonight when we want to watch television so I'd better put it back in the family room where it belongs. I splash some water into the pots and onto the floor, I throw the remote onto a soft cushion on the sofa and I head back down the hall trying to figure out what it was I was going to do.

End of Day: The car isn't washed, the bills are unpaid, the coke is sitting on the kitchen counter, the flowers are half watered, the checkbook still only has one check in it and I can't seem to find my car keys! When I try to figure out how come nothing got done today, I'm baffled because I KNOW I WAS BUSY ALL DAY LONG!!! I realize this is a serious condition and I'll get help, BUT FIRST I think I'll check my e-mail ...

ENRON CAPITALISM

Forwarded to us by Bill Dickerson

In case you were wondering how Enron came into so much trouble, here is a simple explanation given by a Harvard professor of economics.

Traditional American Capitalism ---

1. You have two cows.
2. You sell one and use the money to buy a bull.
3. Your herd multiplies. The economy grows.
4. You sell your herd and retire on the income.

Enron Capitalism ---

1. You buy two cows. You sell three to your mother's publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law, Dick, at the Swiss bank branch in Barstow.
2. Then you quickly execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows, and you work the arbitrage spread while denying insider information.
3. The milk rights of the six cows are then transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by your Uncle Max who sells the rights to the seven cows back to your listed company.
4. The annual report states that your company now owns nine cows, with an option on eighteen more. But now you need to buy a couple of bulls to service all these cows so you borrow several million dollars from your employee's 401K retirement fund, buy the bulls and give Dick, Max and your mother a $20 million dollar accounting fee.
5. Now the cows and everyone else are getting royally screwed so Uncle Sam comes along and bails you out at taxpayer expense so you can go out again and buy two cows.

We found the A.A.A.D.D. article and the Enron Capitalism piece in the Monotony Breakers which our old friend Bill Dickerson puts out to lighten up friends and colleagues. The Monotony Breakers are a mixture of wisdom, humour and commentary which Bill culls from various sources. If you have a great item send it to bdickerson@Exchange.FULLERTON.EDU

How to be Happy

Reprinted with permission from How to Be Happy, Dammit by Karen Salmansohn.
Copyright © 2001. Celestial Arts, Berkeley, CA.
Books are available at bookstores everywhere or at www.tenspeed.com.

Cartoons

from The Journal of Medical Humour Stitches.