The 300 pound elephant in the room....

What is the 300 lbs elephant in the room you may ask?  Well, it's a problem that I want to highlight.  But I have to give a build up first.
 
I work part time at a Physical Therapists office as a  PT technician.  As a technician, I function in very basic capacities:  I take blood pressure, I prep a patient for their therapist (usually means getting instruction from the therapist on warm ups), I clean.... A LOT, and I get a chance to meet people when they are feeling incredibly low about themselves.

The other day, I took a patients blood pressure and it was not only high, but sky high.

When I asked them what was happening they retorted, "...well, I weigh 300 lbs and that's my problem.  But I'm going to do what I want to do, and I'm living for today."

The phrase, "Carpe Diem," is actually a piece of the total phrase, " Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – "Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future.
WOAH!  Putting as little trust as possible in the future?  Why?  Why not trust that if we work today, we can create a better future?  Well, the average age of a roman citizen (not a slave or woman, mind you) was 20 to 30 years old.  It’s no wonder this phrase permeated their society. 
The average age of an American (today) is 73 years old.  WOW!  What a marked difference between cultures.  Our misapplication of the thought process, “Forget the future for the now,” has led us to many problems..  We are short sighted. 
In the example of our patient, This patient would rather enjoy short term gains for long term pain.  This attitude exists top to bottom in our culture.  I see it all the time as a Trainer and S&C coach.
How many times have we all said that? 
“Oh, I’ll do that tomorrow.”
“I can start later.”
“I’ll put off working out until later.”


Many of us practice the “Put off tomorrow what could be accomplished today.”
Here’s the solution:
Rather than mistrusting our future, let’s plan on the future.  Let’s plan on getting older.  Let’s plan on participating in our lives.  Let’s plan on getting active.  When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  If there is anything in this world worthy of accomplishment to you, my reader, I urge you to consider your strategy.  Go from the final result backwards, tracing in small steps all the way to where you are today.  That is a basic foundation for a plan. 
We’ve gone to the moon.  We’ve escaped the bonds of gravity.  Surely we can escape the bonds of our lives with a little planning.  Get moving.  TODAY.
MOTATE:  MOTIVATE YOUR LIFE TO MOTION!!!