Let the Lion Roar
What do I mean by the statement? Of course I have picked the statement from Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture. Pausch in the lecture talks about an injured lion wanting to know if it can roar. However, I want the lion that is you (whom I assume is not injured) to roar in its full strength. How do you do that?
Allow me to narrate your story and then demand you to roar. Agreed that you have a job to perform that assists you to sustain and climb the corporate ladder—linear ladder. I call it linear, for you want to reach from point A to point B. Because that is how you define success. Also, many of you who are married are obligated to look after the family—wife and children. Your duties have doubled—climb the corporate ladder and take care of the family.
My question is with all the responsibilities on your shoulder do you have the time for yourself? Well, the picture is gloomy. Why? The answer is simple: you don’t have the time. And the last thing that comes to your mind is physical activity. Until some alarm bell (health parameters like blood pressure or blood sugar) rings and tells that something is wrong, you do not want to get some physical activity. You require some guiding force to prod you. Alas! The guiding force here appears in the form of a health ailment.
It is you who has to ascertain the possibilities and get time to stay healthy. Charles Darwin says, “In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment.” Don’t mistake Darwin’s statement on adaptability and consume pills to sustain. He never meant that.
Stand your ground and roar—roar vigorously. That’s possible if you have a sound body.
PS: Don’t take your body for granted. It withers away like a fallen leaf if you neglect it.
2 thoughts on “Let the Lion Roar”
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I have read ‘The Last Lecture’ and found it really thought provoking Sir. I liked the way how you have narrated your story and finally connected with he notion of ‘health’ and ‘fitness’. Now, w.r.t. the content – I too believe that the best aid a body (or human) can get in reaching his/her goal is through the additional element of ‘exercise’. Apart from the physical activities, there are the other habits such as reading, writing and procuring aesthetic pleasures that enhance one’s mind and lead him/her in clearing the obstacles (confusions) on the way to success. However, the very self, that is, the body is certainly important as only that can take you to your destiny and thus, catering to the ‘fit’ and ‘healthy’ structure of the body is indeed indispensable.
Suhasini, as you say we need a holistic approach, and the first and foremost step is to possess a sound body.