Evolving Toward Wellness
An Occasional Series About SeekWellness Visitors
Sometimes it seems that self-managing lifestyles are too demanding, that only heroes and heroines can pull it off. Not so. While getting started is usually a difficult period of adjustment and sacrifice, once underway, a wellness lifestyle becomes self-renewing because of the daily satisfactions and positive results that occur from carrying out a commitment to excellence. Don't take my word for it. Read the stories of people much like yourself who are doing -- and loving it.
Have you experienced any major changes in lifestyle? If so, please tell us about it and let us know how you got started, what inspired you, helped you make the change, how you feel about it now, what difference the changes have made in your relationships, fortune, health or whatever. Attach a photo -- we might want to make you a star or at least give you some of those 15 minutes of fame that we're all promised. Send me your story now.
Thanks. Enjoy Wendy's story, below.
A Comeback and Then Some
by Wendy Shore
Looking at her today, it's hard to imagine how Wendy Shore, recovering from a dreadful bike crash that shattered her hip socket and pelvis, managed to ride a bike again. Yet, as her 60th birthday draws near, she has ridden her bike, a lot. In addition, she has completed nearly all requirements for a doctorate in exercise science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, qualified for the USA Triathlon Team and competed with panache and verve in the recent World Triathlon Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland. This is a short version of Wendy's story.
I asked Wendy to summarize her journey from a physical wreck to an eminent scholar and world-class triathlete. I also asked that she explain her ideas about wellness and her future plans for that soon-to-arrive day when she becomes "Dr. Shore."
After the accident, I (gingerly) got back on my bike and spent about two years trying to catch up to my two dearest friends and riding buddies, who consistently "dropped me" (sped away leaving me in a cloud of dust). However, over time, I began to notice that it was taking them longer to do it! Then I eased my way back into triathlon competitions and, when the nationals were held in the Orlando area, my two friends made a bet. One bet that I could make the national team, the other that I could not. For some reason, it never occurred to me that I was not really obligated to try, so off I went.
I really had not had enough time to train. After all, I was back in graduate school working on a challenging degree, I had already experienced one traumatic setback while testing my limits as an athlete, and to complicate things on the day of the big race, it was scorchingly hot. Nevertheless, I gave it my "some" (as opposed to giving it my all), even stopping at one point on the final run to use the Porto let!
Needless to say, I did not win the race, but I did end up with the last qualifying slot and thus had made the team for the world championship the following month in Lausanne, Switzerland. There's a saying about "Be careful what you wish for—you may get it!" Well, that was my situation -- as I learned more about the bike course in Lausanne, I was terrified. I would be way out of my league, racing with world-class athletes on treacherously steep cobblestone roads.
After arrival and a practice ride, I was overwhelmed with concern about the fact that I would be risking injury on this daunting championship course. I asked myself, "What am I doing here?" However, I knew I would never forgive myself if I backed away from such an opportunity. So, I did it! And, glory be, it was far better than I ever dreamed.
I finished 11th in the swim and 19th overall in my age group. When I crossed the finish line, I had fulfilled my three great goals, namely, 1) not getting injured; 2) completing the race; and 3) not being last. The best part of it all was seeing that I could be terrified and still do it anyway. The next best part was feeling the support of American teammates, particularly my two dear friends, who in their own unique ways had believed in me when I had big doubts about myself.
What does the concept of self-management for lifestyle artistry or wellness mean to me? I think wellness is that quality which enables each person to reach towards personal growth in all aspects of her being. It is based on self-responsibility, the recognition that each of us is the source of ourselves. While in the narrowest sense, we do not determine our genetic material, we do determine what we choose to do with that material. It is our choice whether to be fat or thin, ill tempered or generous, active or passive, honest or dishonest, virtuous or virtue-less, fit or unfit.
While it is difficult to write a definition of wellness, it is very easy to recognize when we are well. When we wake up in the morning feeling rested and looking forward to the day, when we feel we are nourishing our very souls by breathing deeply the sweet air and drinking deeply the sweet water, when we delight in challenging our bodies and our minds while feeling most generously disposed to others and anxious to help them succeed in whatever quest they may be on, we are well.
My future plans? The first 50 years flew past, with some incredible high points. As I race towards 100, my goal is to have as many high points as possible. I want to have too much fun. I want to make the national triathlon team and really have time to train. I want to stay injury-free. I want to get my degree. I want to spend lots of time with friends. I want to see my sons well and very happy. I want to be kind to as many people as I possible can and to share the good will that has so generously been shared with me.
About Wendy Shore: The mother of two handsome young men, Ari and Ethan, Wendy lives in Orlando. Ari is a medical student at the University of Hawaii; Ethan is an architectural student at the University of Tennessee who just completed his first triathlon under his Mom's tutelage (see photo, above).
August 2001
