In order to discuss perspective, we first have to have a working knowledge of the word. The definition according to Merriam-Webster dictionary is “a mental view or prospect” or “the interrelation in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed”.
It is true that a perspective can vary differently for each one of us. Emotions and beliefs will also affect the way that a person will perceive information. There are several other factors that will affect the way a person perceives things such as cultural and social factors, how we were brought up, the media and even subconscious bias. Our perspectives may change over time based on the information that is gained.
How our perception can change over time is what I want to focus on. This is because there is a lot of information out there that may be based on faulty or altered research from the food companies or pharmaceutical companies that only want to make the most profit.
There have been conspiracy theories that suggest that the food companies and pharmaceutical companies are working together to make you sick. Producing food that makes you hungry and has little to no nutritional value, which causes you to not only eat more but results in medical conditions where the doctors and pharmaceutical companies (this includes the companies that make vitamins and supplements) make massive amounts of profits. The added bonus for these companies is that you will be a lifelong customer.
Obesity has become a huge problem for the United States and the world. The cause and solution might be evident if we just think about it. In the last 100 years, society and technology have made our lives so much easier. The question I ask is “Is this a good thing or a bad thing? It is good that we don’t have to spend long hours in the coal mines, tilling the field or walking to and from the general store.
To illustrate this point, I want to share a little bit about my life growing up. I was raised next to the San Gabriel Mission in San Gabriel, California. It was a Catholic community and most of my neighbors and other residents attend the same church and family church functions. Our house was located in the San Gabriel village. This was a section of several blocks where most of the residents knew each other. This was not always a good thing because if you did something wrong, you just knew your parents were going to find out. You are probably thinking why do I need to know this? And it is because I am trying to paint the picture. Without internet and streaming services, summers consisted of playing out in front of the house, riding our bicycles to the park, swimming in our above-ground pool or visiting the recreational centers or riding to the local 7-11 to play video games.
Now it is important to mention that I wasn’t the athlete, at age 18, I was 5 foot 8 inches and weighed 125. I walked to my first job at McDonald’s which was 1.2 miles away (yes, I googled it, thought it was further). My best friend, Rob moved from San Gabriel to Hacienda Heights which was 15.6 miles away. It took me three different buses to get dropped off at the bottom of his hill on Colima Drive, only to still walk up to his house. You can say that my fitness routine involved a lot of walking. Most of the time I didn’t like waiting for the bus.
I joined the Air Force in 1986 and was supposed to begin on the 26th of December. President Reagan decided to make that day a holiday, so I didn’t start until December 30th. Now the military academy was not extremely difficult and during my service time I learned to play racquetball and Tae Kwon Do, which I did daily. After the Air Force, I worked in construction as an apprentice while I started taking flight instruction as a helicopter pilot. When I couldn’t afford the lessons, my best friend talked me into joining the Sheriff’s Department. I remember going to the high school and running on the track to prepare myself for the academy. During my career as a deputy sheriff, I ran over five miles a day and continued playing racquetball over the first six years or so. And this is where it began or shall I say decreased.
The point I was trying to make is that I am sure that most of you reading this article had a much similar type of childhood, if you are in the same age bracket. A childhood where your physical activity as a child and teenager, maybe into your early twenties, was relatively good. Then as we got older and our lives got more complicated, maybe a marriage or increased demand in our workload, physical activity was placed on the back burner.
To complicate the situation, we may have indulged ourselves on sugars (meaning more glucose – carbohydrates, starches, sugars, junk food, etc.) just to trigger our endorphins and make us feel better. Alcohol consumption may have increased. Our attitude towards keeping ourselves in shape turned into the attitude of “I look good enough.” Our emotions and attitudes directly affect how we live our lives and without a well-focused perception of the truth of the path we are on, we can’t change it.
I know this article is a little bit lengthy but I will say that the one thing I learned when I was in the military is that even though we came from different places, we still have things in common (“… we’re all very, very different, but there is one thing that we all have in common: we were all stupid enough to enlist in the Army.” – Bill Murray in the movie “Stripes”). A little humor.
*New Update
I was thinking about the blog post and realized I forgot to link my story as a example to the perspective of what we eat. There are a couple of questions to ask:
Why do we still feel that we need to eat three meals a day? If any UFC fighter, farmers, coal miners or an Olympic athlete like Michael Phelps are reading this article, I am not referring to you. I am sure you need the calories but most everyone else, I am sure you feel you need to only because you are stuck on the information you have received all your life. Sadly, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” was based on a commercial in the 1970’s to sell Grape-Nuts cereal and boost sales. If you examine the facts, your energy load is nowhere close to what it was in the early 1900s.
I recently switched to the ads version of my streaming service and I have noticed that the majority of the commercials are about supplements, pre-packaged meals, home-delivered organic meat and pharmaceutical medications with a long list of side-effects. All these commercials have one thing in common and that is the focus to tell you what you are deficient in and convince to that you NEED their product. Why do we believe this? Why does the majority of society not question but just go by face value and feel a need for their products. The end result is the spending of hundred of our dollars on stuff we probably really didn’t need. If you are told by your doctor that you are deficient in a basic nutrient, why not look for a natural replacement and choose a food solution?
In conclusion, our perspective can influence how we live our lives. Having the proper perception and deciding to make a change can influence it for the better. The only thing that I ask you to do is to do some real soul searching for the positive and keep an open mind when you interact with others. Everyone can see the world differently which makes us all very special people.
I guess I should tell you the conclusion of my story. I am still a helicopter pilot. I am still 5 foot 9 inches tall but weigh approximately 190 lbs. I am a personal trainer, nutritionist and a certified yoga instructor. I can say that I am happy with the result but always trying to improve.
For additional inspiration, please check out my earlier posts on inspiration
