Uncertainty in Hurricanes and Health
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.
Well, I am lucky enough to tag team with Dr. J again!!!! How exciting. Dr. J always has a way to take an every day subject or something going on in the world, not directly related to health/fitness & turn it around to make some very valid & important health points. I hope you will all take time to read his post below. If you are short of time, please come back later. A must read!
Dr. J talks about small changes in a life's direction that can make huge impacts. I know from experience that some choices I made led me in not so great a direction, others, a better direction. He talks about the choices we make & the influence they have... and he talks about how our reactions to things that happen to us are also a huge determining factor. I also know from experience that my reactions to stress & certain situations are not always in my best interest. I still have not mastered this!
Please read the post below that will get you thinking!
The Cone of Uncertainty in Hurricanes and Health
June 1st marks the beginning of the hurricane season!. Like the
pins in a bowling alley, we in the eastern and southern United States
are the targets of the numerous bowling ball-like counter-clockwise
spinning objects coming across the Atlantic!
Unfortunately, there are no gutters, so somewhere will have to take the
hit! There is only the “Cone of Uncertainty.” This is not “SNL,” this
cone is serious business!
Where in the cone our hurricane ends up tracking depends on several
factors such as steering currents, high level wind sheers, area of
origin, presence of high and low pressure fronts, mountainous land
masses, and so forth. The slightest variation in factors can determine
if your home gets trashed or if it will be someone else’s home in the
next city, state or country!
Yes, there is the occasional odd ball that just hooks into the North
Atlantic, picking up water and returning it as rain, but those are all
too infrequent!
Our individual cones of uncertainty
Perhaps when we grace the earth with our formation, we also enter our
own cone of uncertainty, where many factors — some predetermined, many
controlled to various degrees by ourselves or our environment — will
all add up to our life’s direction!
When I was involved in adolescent psychiatry, I often thought about how
a small change in a patient’s life direction could, over time, make a
large difference as to where they would end up as their young lives
moved forward. I told a story in a Calorielab column about a former
patient, Heidi, who changed her direction while under our care and went
on to happier times! This is one of the reasons that I feel important
directional choices need to be made or instituted, if possible, while
we are children!
The choices we make determine our lives, has long been a mantra
of mine. While we are born with our genetic makeup, I feel the major
determining factors in our lives can be largely influenced by the
choices we make. Even if one looks at identical twins their
fingerprints, which were identical at birth, do not remain the same as
they age!
Every choice influences your life
Think about the choices in the type of diet you eat, the exercise and
activities you get involved with, and the health related decisions you
make..
All of these contribute to where you will track in your cone of
uncertainty! Do you smoke, wear a seatbelt or riding helmet, get
vaccinated, the list goes on, all factors
influencing your track.
Of course we cannot control everything, but we do have control over our
reaction to what happens to us. Stress is not our problem, but our
reaction to stress can become our problem!
There are obvious controllable factors over which we have considerable
influence. The all-too-often self-acquired diseases, which comprise the
metabolic syndrome, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high
cholesterol and triglycerides, are as a unit, or separate entities, all
conditions that can usually be avoided by smart lifestyle choices.
Even arthritis and many other conditions such as heart disease and
cancer are minimized or decreased by the avoidance of being overweight
or obese, eating a healthy diet and being active.
There are many ways to go in life! Each and every one of us has the
privilege of finding our own best path. It will be a unique and special
path for each. Some will do better than others, but all of us have the
opportunity to do our individual best! When you are that bowling ball
cruising toward your destiny will you be a strike, or will you be
struck? It is your choice within your cone of uncertainty!
Did you make some small change or changes in your life that led to a major impact on where your life went for you? Do you feel, like Dr. J, that the major determining factors in your life can be largely influenced by the choices you make. Have you managed to master your reaction situations in your life for the better? How does Dr. J’s post help you change your direction or react differently to things? Pass on your thoughts!
Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200. Well, I am lucky enough to tag team with Dr. J again!!!! How exciting. Dr. J always has a way to take an every day subject or something going on in the world, not directly related to health/fitness & turn it around to make some very valid & important health points. I hope you will all take time to read his post below. If you are short of time, please come back later. A must read!
Dr. J talks about small changes in a life's direction that can make huge impacts. I know from experience that some choices I made led me in not so great a direction, others, a better direction. He talks about the choices we make & the influence they have... and he talks about how our reactions to things that happen to us are also a huge determining factor. I also know from experience that my reactions to stress & certain situations are not always in my best interest. I still have not mastered this!
Please read the post below that will get you thinking!
The Cone of Uncertainty in Hurricanes and Health
June 1st marks the beginning of the hurricane season!. Like the
pins in a bowling alley, we in the eastern and southern United States
are the targets of the numerous bowling ball-like counter-clockwise
spinning objects coming across the Atlantic!
Unfortunately, there are no gutters, so somewhere will have to take the
hit! There is only the “Cone of Uncertainty.” This is not “SNL,” this
cone is serious business!
Where in the cone our hurricane ends up tracking depends on several
factors such as steering currents, high level wind sheers, area of
origin, presence of high and low pressure fronts, mountainous land
masses, and so forth. The slightest variation in factors can determine
if your home gets trashed or if it will be someone else’s home in the
next city, state or country!
Yes, there is the occasional odd ball that just hooks into the North
Atlantic, picking up water and returning it as rain, but those are all
too infrequent!
Our individual cones of uncertainty
Perhaps when we grace the earth with our formation, we also enter our
own cone of uncertainty, where many factors — some predetermined, many
controlled to various degrees by ourselves or our environment — will
all add up to our life’s direction!
When I was involved in adolescent psychiatry, I often thought about how
a small change in a patient’s life direction could, over time, make a
large difference as to where they would end up as their young lives
moved forward. I told a story in a Calorielab column about a former
patient, Heidi, who changed her direction while under our care and went
on to happier times! This is one of the reasons that I feel important
directional choices need to be made or instituted, if possible, while
we are children!
The choices we make determine our lives, has long been a mantra
of mine. While we are born with our genetic makeup, I feel the major
determining factors in our lives can be largely influenced by the
choices we make. Even if one looks at identical twins their
fingerprints, which were identical at birth, do not remain the same as
they age!
Every choice influences your life
Think about the choices in the type of diet you eat, the exercise and
activities you get involved with, and the health related decisions you
make..
All of these contribute to where you will track in your cone of
uncertainty! Do you smoke, wear a seatbelt or riding helmet, get
vaccinated, the list goes on, all factors
influencing your track.
Of course we cannot control everything, but we do have control over our
reaction to what happens to us. Stress is not our problem, but our
reaction to stress can become our problem!
There are obvious controllable factors over which we have considerable
influence. The all-too-often self-acquired diseases, which comprise the
metabolic syndrome, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high
cholesterol and triglycerides, are as a unit, or separate entities, all
conditions that can usually be avoided by smart lifestyle choices.
Even arthritis and many other conditions such as heart disease and
cancer are minimized or decreased by the avoidance of being overweight
or obese, eating a healthy diet and being active.
There are many ways to go in life! Each and every one of us has the
privilege of finding our own best path. It will be a unique and special
path for each. Some will do better than others, but all of us have the
opportunity to do our individual best! When you are that bowling ball
cruising toward your destiny will you be a strike, or will you be
struck? It is your choice within your cone of uncertainty!
Did you make some small change or changes in your life that led to a major impact on where your life went for you? Do you feel, like Dr. J, that the major determining factors in your life can be largely influenced by the choices you make. Have you managed to master your reaction situations in your life for the better? How does Dr. J’s post help you change your direction or react differently to things? Pass on your thoughts!
Stop by tomorrow to hear what I have learned to be OK with for me.
Posted by truth2beingfit at 6/1/2010 9:00 PM 
Categories: Motivation/Support, Guest Posts, Life, Fitness, Life Experiences, Health, Challenges, Wellness
Tags: challenges fitness health life experiences control Wellness Dr. J choices
Categories: Motivation/Support, Guest Posts, Life, Fitness, Life Experiences, Health, Challenges, Wellness
Tags: challenges fitness health life experiences control Wellness Dr. J choices
Yes, the wind and sea currents of our fitness, we can (and should) control.
I love the Dr, J. quote below,
"When you are that bowling ball
cruising toward your destiny will you be a strike, or will you be
struck? It is your choice within your cone of uncertainty!"
I wonder though, strike, struck, or STROKE...?
Thank you Jody for sharing this. Thank Lord J for writing it
Reply to this
Roy, like you, I love me some Dr. J!!!!
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I love that quote, too! It really makes you think, doesn't it?
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Like all he writes, this is so true. It really is about changing through choices we make.
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Dr. J is absolutely right that many of life's choices as children are carried with us as we grow older. This is all the more reason why parents need to set a good example. It pains me when I see parents filling their grocery cart with nothing but garbage. What is that teaching their children?
Reply to this
Karen, great point! I know I still carry baggage from way back when!
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Good stuff here... simply I chose to no longer let life choose the life I live but instead I choose my life. It starts one change at a time, so true, and for me that first change was to stop and think about every decision and whether it was what I needed to live my way. Once I started consciously choosing to be better, I started to get better, I started to live life vs. exist in life.
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Patrick, thx for sharing.. that says a lot!
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Great post..it really makes you think!I try to tell my kids that when you need to make a decision in life, almost always the hard one is the correct one.
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Yes! Choices of our reactions DO have an impact! And speaking of hurricanes, as was told years ago, in dealing with specifics, to remember to be the eye and stay grounded instead of getting pulled into the spin of the hurricane! Sound advise!
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Jules, great quote!
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Always great to be at Jody's playhouse
It's easy to be strong and defiant now before the hurricanes flex their muscle. Where you gonna go when the hurricane blow, lol!
When I worked in adolescent psychiatry I compared the in-patient unit to the eye of the hurricane for our patients. Making it in the eye was easy. When we are in our life's hurricane is when we are really tested. Good luck to all of us!
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Dr. J... as always, great things to say & yes, we are tested!
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Out of shear frustration with my weight I signed up for a marathon 8 years ago. At the time I couldn't run 3 miles. It changed my entire life.
A martial arts running surgeon. This guy sounds almost as awesome as Chuck Norris.
Good post.
Reply to this
Joe, Dr. J is awesome! Check out his columns at CalorieLab!
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If I'm a bowling ball, I'm either gonna make a strike out of myself or a 7-10 split (because I thrive on near-impossible challenges).
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