In Botswana I was invited to speak to the Botswana Long Term Athlete Development Conference, along with a bunch of mostly South African experts. My chief qualification was that I was from out of town.
I listened carefully as my boss, Proff Jimoh Shehu (Nigerian) gave the first talk introducing the conference topics. As I listened, I learned that I was an accidental product of long-term athlete development, not by design, but by circumstance.
I began to exercise as a youngster, about age 9, competing in swim meets across Georgia. I wasn't very good, but got lots and lots of exercise. My brothers and I were involved in school sports, and my first real success came in high school as a wrestler.
In college I was required to compete in intramural sports every semester, so I stayed plenty active. After graduation Brenda and I married, and I had the only lull in exercise, but began competitive running in Feb of 1975 or so, and have kept at it, though much less competitively the last few years.
Because of running, and obstacles to studying biology, I accidentally discovered human biology in the form of exercise physiology. I think exercise is very important, but discovered about 30 years ago an important Scripture. Paul gives Timothy this advice,
"Bodily exercise is of some value, but godliness is of great value, since it holds promise not only for this life, but for the life to come."
We tend to live in the here and now, paying scant attention to the life to come. As an exercise person, I see lots of people thinking that exercise is worth a lot more than it is. Sure enough it yields substantial health benefits, but those benefits are really short lived-- because we are.
So here is the take-home: pay attention to exercise, but more important than that is to seek godliness.
I listened carefully as my boss, Proff Jimoh Shehu (Nigerian) gave the first talk introducing the conference topics. As I listened, I learned that I was an accidental product of long-term athlete development, not by design, but by circumstance.
I began to exercise as a youngster, about age 9, competing in swim meets across Georgia. I wasn't very good, but got lots and lots of exercise. My brothers and I were involved in school sports, and my first real success came in high school as a wrestler.
In college I was required to compete in intramural sports every semester, so I stayed plenty active. After graduation Brenda and I married, and I had the only lull in exercise, but began competitive running in Feb of 1975 or so, and have kept at it, though much less competitively the last few years.
Because of running, and obstacles to studying biology, I accidentally discovered human biology in the form of exercise physiology. I think exercise is very important, but discovered about 30 years ago an important Scripture. Paul gives Timothy this advice,
"Bodily exercise is of some value, but godliness is of great value, since it holds promise not only for this life, but for the life to come."
We tend to live in the here and now, paying scant attention to the life to come. As an exercise person, I see lots of people thinking that exercise is worth a lot more than it is. Sure enough it yields substantial health benefits, but those benefits are really short lived-- because we are.
So here is the take-home: pay attention to exercise, but more important than that is to seek godliness.
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