Wisdom is the prime thing

This is a great book for children, written by Susan Butcher and her husband David Monson. It tells the true story of Susan Butcher, four-time Iditarod winner, and her beloved lead dog, Granite. Definitely recommended. Or buy one for a child you know that would be touched by this heartwarming story.

I was a bit surprised to read an article about basic tenets of good fitness and find out that point number 3 is to floss your teeth regularly.

People tease me about one of my key training principles: I recommend that you floss twice a day. Yes, floss. Why? Well, if you ask any dentist or dental hygienist, they will tell you that not only does flossing save your teeth, but new research tells us that it might be the best thing you can do for your heart health. It seems that keeping small dental infections at bay is a great thing to do for the rest of your system, too.

His statements are inline with recent research about the link between flossing and healthy hearts. The reasons aren’t clear yet, but doctors postulate that the same bacteria that causes mouth diseases is responsible for plaque in the heart. Articles have been published the last decade suggesting that flossing regularly may help to prevent heart attacks.

Besides the health benefits…

He continues:

But, there is a point beyond the issue of cardiovascular health. If someone asks me to design a multi-year training program that peaks with an Olympic championship or a Mr. Universe victory, but can’t set aside two minutes or less a day to floss, well, then why are we all wasting our time? And that is the issue here: what are the secrets to long-term fitness? Sadly, most of us “know” this already, but let’s decide right away to rededicate ourselves to taking these simple concepts and running with them.

Unfortunately, the point of this paragraph isn’t completely clear to me. But I understand him to mean that a real winner must be willing to make the small sacrifices on a daily basis to live right. As David Starr Jordan wrote:

There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living.

Why floss?

This seems to be the lesson borne out by an interesting page I found, (a good read!) written by a person who started flossing twice daily and describes the inspirational impact this had on his life. In fact, now he appears on seminars as an inspirational speaker, telling the story of how he started flossing daily (!). He relates:

It is a powerful feeling to be in control of yourself. Teeth not flossed are out of control. Daily flossing was just one step. Daily exercise soon followed which made me feel even better. I then built the habit of eating more foods that are good for me and less that are not. I built better work habits that made me more prosperous. And I make time to do things I enjoy most. I may have never known this happy life of mine if I hadn’t started flossing daily. I can honestly say these are the best times of my life thus far and I am hopeful and optimistic about the future.

Taken from a speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

Definitely read this amazing, inspirational article about Cliff Young.

From the article:

The whole nation thought he was a crazy old man to undertake an almost impossible feat. Most feared that he would die trying. But this humble old man proved all the critics wrong.

Cliff Young, at 61 years of age, participated in 1983’s Sydney to Melbourne race. Considered to be the world’s toughest race, with a distance of 875 kilometers [543 miles] and taking at least 5 days to finish, Cliff Young entered the race against world-class athletes. Read how he achieved the unthinkable and inspired a whole nation.

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Shakespeare wrote comedies, tragedies, and histories. His comedies and tragedies I have enjoyed many times. But his histories I have avoided where at all possible. Lately, with my increasing interest in history, I decided to give one of his histories a try. I started with Henry V, which has been on my mind lately. It has a speech that I consider one of the most inspiring speeches I have ever read or heard.

Shakespeare’s histories are not as engaging (for me at least) as his other works. But, some of his lines are brilliant enough to make up for all perceived lackings in the story. Here are my favorites from Henry V.

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