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Youth Fitness Specialist And Happines Part 2… 

As Elena and I pondered the sources from which happiness flowed we wondered if there was another catalyst to its fulfillment, a life of solidarity.  Whether fully engaged in a labor of love or committed to a purpose greater than yourself, can you truly be the best version of yourself, by yourself?  Without being challenged, inspired and supported by a like minded peer group, how do we ever know whether we are progressing or regressing?  Further, what is a life of pleasure without others to share, enjoy and explore it with. 

As I sit and look out of my hotel window in Scotland, starring down onto Glasgow Center, I’m overwhelmed by how long the ancestry of some of the people living here dates back.  Some of the Scots living here today share a rare y chromosome with a group of ancient people, the picts, who lived in this country an estimated 5000 years ago.  The Romans referred to these people as the pictii, which means “the painted people.”  Its mind blowing for me to fathom  being a descendent of a tribe that dominated the land some five millenniums ago. Then again, in the scope of history, that’s not that long at all.  In the not so distant future, we were tribal people.  Our lives were directed by a shared purpose and values, not a GPS.  Information was passed down to generations through stories, instead of down the hall through e-mail.  Our survival was based on unity, not a video conference.  And people were strongly connected by community and a tribal identity not a black berry. 

Could it be that the reason why so many people are seemingly discontented is because in spite of our cool technological gadgets, we still can’t help but feel disconnected? 

In what might be one of my favorite movies of all time, Holly Golightley (played by the incomparable Audrey Hepburn) is a young woman whose determination to be unconstrained causes her to reject or more accurately run from anything (or anyone) who could possibly be worth being happy for.  In her mind, any form of stability jeopardizes her freedom, which she values too highly to risk. 

The evidence for this is illustrated by her refusal to name a stray cat she cares for because he is a wild thing and can therefore never belong to her.  Since she considers herself a wild thing, she believes that she can never belong to anyone, or anything for that matter.  If as a rule she can never belong to anyone or anything, she can never be defeated by anyone or anything.  At the end of the movie she comes to a few realizations, first that her “cat” does belong to her, she is deeply in love with her neighbor Paul and that her life philosophy may save her from being defeated by anything, but at the same time cause her to lose herself (ironically, her identity is the one thing she tries most vehemently protect) in the process. 

Dr. Dean Ornish points out that people who are in meaningful relationships from which they draw support are generally healthier, and if they do become ill, recover much faster than those who are not. 

Maybe one of the benefits of group exercise in our facility is not the fact that our members will burn fat or inches they stand to lose, but the enjoyment of life they stand to gain through active participation in an experience that has collective meaning. 

Trainers and youth fitness specialist are increasingly seeking out ways to earn more and train less in order to avoid burnout.  Semi-private training may be more than a good business strategy, it may be a great adherence strategy that adds an element of enjoyment and interpersonal dynamics to an environment that immediately elevates the quality of life of its participants.  Out of all the cool tools (BOSU, TRX, VIPR, etc.) that we have at our disposal, perhaps an equally great, yet often overlooked tool we have at our disposal is community. 

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The IYCA Was, Is and Always Will Be, Built on Community.

Thousands of Dedicated and Passionate Professionals Worldwide, Linked Together and Working Toward a Common Good.

Click Here to See Where It All Starts

– Brian