The Difference in Lifestyles

So whoever is reading this probably doesn't know that I was had a very hard time in grade ten. Grade nine was great. I was healthy, vibrant and not a care in the world. I got a bit higher than nine on the beep test and loved spontaneous trips. Then my world came crashing down when I unfortunately shared a straw with a friend who came back from a third world country and caught a virus like mono. I had all the symptoms of it, but it wouldn't show up on my numerous blood tests. The doctors said that I was sleeping more than a person with mono, I think my highest was 18 hours sleeping in a day. You probably don't believe this, but it's true. I was sick for two and a half months. It was devastating for me and for my body. I lost weight and muscle. I came back to school in January and started my semester of gym 10, truly disappointed in what my body could do now versus before I was sick. I know that I started in the seven range on the beep test, whereas before I was in the nine range. Things would tire me out more and I had less energy. I went to a naturopath who told me that I should start being gluten and dairy free. This was so hard, but the change in lifestyle helped me not only to maintain a healthy diet, but I truly believe that it helped me recover. I started exercising more, noticing that it helped whenever I needed a break or was stressed. My immune system also had to rebuild. When I came back to school I would get sick around every two weeks, usually a cold that I would come to school and work through. Before I would only get sick around once a year with something like the flu and believed in the three second rule for everything. Now my immune system is doing better (even though now I'm a bit of a germophobe). I still get sick, but not as often and I've learned to try and rebuild my strength in my body. I think that because of this experience, I know my own body better and I know how to cope when something tragic happens more than other people my age. I guess I just learned that my lifestyle I live now counts, you know? Because I'm not a teenager forever, but I can lead a life knowing that I can take care of myself and do what it takes to get there.

Mind Over Body-no matter how much it hurts

Usually my mind is focused on the students in the class, better preparing them for life when they don't have a PE teacher pressuring them to get things done. However, I was kind of shocked when I heard that we were doing the 30 minute run and we were supposed to not stop. I'm not the best distance runner because I have issues with mental strength. I always want to work hard, and get up to my target heart rate, but once I get uncomfortable I start to deteriorate and eventually stop. So as you can imagine I'm kind of worried because my mine is kind of like "You can't do this! You aren't fit enough!" but there was also this little voice in the very back of my head, a very tinie-tiny voice that told me that I could do it if I tried hard enough. And so as people started running I told myself that I would run the whole thing. The first time I started to feel the uncomfortableness to stop I almost gave up, almost. However, I decided to put my mind over my body. By the middle I started to believe that I could do this, even though my calves were killing me. I was snail-like too. Like really slow, but keeping around the same time each time that I ran around the track. By the end, I was comfortable with my pain, like it was just there always with me. I was comfortable with being uncomfortable, and I did it. I never stopped once. I'm so proud of that even though it may seem like such a little accomplishment. I put my mind over my body, and I won.

The Limits of Persuasion

Ok, so I noticed something a couple of weeks ago with a particular students of mine. I couldn't figure this kid out. He didn't seem like he wanted to participate in fitness and never dressed in his strip. He had an attitude of "whatever" to me and I just didn't know what to make of it. He was also really quiet, and like never talked. I had to try to motivate this kid, but I wasn't sure how. He wouldn't look at me if I said something positive and he didn't really react if I said something otherwise. So when I was doing the hill run, I picked a spot right next to him. He didn't make much of an effort and started to complain a bit. So I looked at him and said "Hey, I bet I can beat you in this." He looked pretty surprised and told me " Yeah right." "You're just saying that because you know I'll beat you bad" I said with a grin. Suddenly when Mr.Vaughan whistled this kid was suddenly way up the hill, sprinting. He turned around as I came up with a huge grin and said "I beat you!" For the rest of the hill run I found myself pretty challenged, sometimes he beat me and sometimes we tied. I guess I just thought that telling positive comments to someone could motivate them a lot, but really everyone is motivated by something different. In this case, it was friendly competition.