Ask yourself, are you tough enough?

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wonder if I am tough enough? This time of year especially I think I get awfully contemplative about what it takes to be tough enough to tackle the new year. Tough enough to do what it takes to live my life according to my values. Tough enough to challenge myself to do the best with my God given abilities. Tough enough to weather the storms of life with my heart intact and dancing in my feet.

Tough enough? I think we all are tough enough! I see it in my patients everyday. We just have to choose it. Everyday it’s like the bell goes off and the first thing we need to say is “I got this.” Come storm clouds with rain or snow 2 feet deep in the northwest. Whether it’s a bluebird day or a single digit freeze, do we have what it takes?

This last week a sweet lady asked me why she hadn’t seen my articles in the paper for a few weeks and I told her I thought I was on hold for a bit. You see the brain is a powerful thing and I think I was on overload. I don’t know if any of you ever feel like that, but sometimes everything just seems out of sorts.

So I did what I do best when my brain is too full of so much, I went back to my daily exercise regime. Everyday since the start of the new year, 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise and at least 10 minutes of lifting weights. Believe me I didn’t feel like exercising. I didn’t feel like writing. I didn’t feel like doing what I knew my values were asking me to do, but I’m tough enough, so I did it anyway.

You see sometimes the brain tells the body what to do and other times the body leads the brain. For me to begin exercising daily again it took me to listen to what my body feels like when it’s healthy; to tell my brain to get in gear. However other times it is our brain itself that leads the physical body to the next level of well-being.

According to Markus Amann, Ph.D., a professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Utah, “we can train our brain to respond to muscle signals in certain ways, and then we can push harder and for longer.” The idea of throwing in the towel is either a central nervous system idea, which is our brain, or it is our muscles giving up before they are really done. Our muscles get what they call “peripheral fatigue.” But is it really fatigue or is it our mind being too tired of focusing and tired of trying?

I want to challenge all of you this year to step forward and live boldly. Lead with the gifts of your physical health. If you are not sure what they are, then you probably need to come see your physical therapist. Your physical therapist is a specialist in the musculoskeletal system. We work with people everyday that have physical challenges who are determined to lead with their body and their brain. Physical therapists teach the brain and the body to connect so optimal health can happen. Never give up on your health, it’s your gift this new year for a better life.

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Sheree DiBiase, PT, is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy and she and all her staff wants to thank you for the trust you have in us and in yourself to choose wisely this year. It’s never too late to live the life you want. We can be reached in our Coeur d’Alene office at (208) 667-1988 and in our Spokane Valley office at (509) 891-2623.