Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 56 - Surviving the good old days

[Mahler]

Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 56 - Surviving the good old days

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya! That’s for all of you guys who are Irish, or Irish wannabe’s. An early “Happy Saint Patrick’s Day” to you. I am not Irish. Being Polish, Italian and Scotch does not even come close, but my wife’s family is; big time. Just remember, any beverages consumed on Saint Patrick’s Day have no calories. If you believe that, then you will have no trouble spotting that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Just make Thursday your cheat day and have a good, but safe, time.

I finished my first Phase of “The Greatest Workout Ever” on Friday. I don’t know if it is actually the greatest workout ever, but it sure is a kick-ass routine. I like the concentration on big, compound lifts and the way that they are used. As proof of the effectiveness, I posted a personal best in the deadlift, going 330 pounds; six big plates and a few small ones for good measure. I want to try to hit 350 this year. Only time will tell.

Today I have an item that has circulated the internet for a while, but has some really thought provoking truths about those of us old enough to remember simpler times and how we actually survived without the grossly unsafe conditions under which we were raised. Enjoy!

= = = = = = = = = =

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they
carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for
diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored
lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we
rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took
hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but
we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back
when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down
the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the
bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no
99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell
phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat
rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms and although we
were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the
worms live in us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't
had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They
actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers
and inventors ever and the past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

= = = = = = = = = =

Have a great week.

In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler

[Chris Correia]

Ha! Thanks for sharing that, John. I was just having a conversation about such matters a few days ago. Gee, we're lucky to be alive, aren't we?

Congrats on your pb on the deadlift. That's awesome. Ever imagine that three years ago? 350 should be no problem. I can see it now, and I know you can, too. Now, what's your pb on the unilateral/single leg RDL???

[md11hydmec]

Congrats on the lift! For a superstar like yourself, I'm pretty sure you're just laughing at all the exercises. Just kidding. Thanks for bringing up old memories. It is a wondder we're all still alive! MD

[Bill Hartman]

Great post Mahler!!

And great lift as well.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

This one hits home with me. Growing up it was not uncommon for me to come down stairs each morning to find that my best friend "Flick" was sitting in my living room eating oatmeal that my Mom had prepared for him. Everyone called my Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad. We never knocked on doors, we just walked in and said "Hi".

Thanks for the memory.

Bill

[FishrCutB8]

The kids in my neighborhood still do that, sometimes. We call it the commune, and we eat at each others houses at least once a week....Three or four families, all yakking up a storm...

[canuckguy]

Originally posted by FishrCutB8:
We call it the commune,

Does that make you a Communist?

[FlyinM]

How true, how true.

At least Fish's neightborhood has got the right idea.

[FishrCutB8]

Originally posted by canuckguy:

quote:

---

Originally posted by FishrCutB8:
We call it the commune,

Does that make you a Communist? [/quote]In the best of all possible ways....you know, Communism's not a bad idea, as long as people do what they're supposed to do--human nature is what destroys Communism....

[ninja]

It looks good on paper, but not in real life

[canuckguy]

That's OK Fish.

I'm one of those left-leaning Canadians. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Kaiser]

Originally posted by Bill Hartman:
Great post Mahler!!

And great lift as well.

quote:

---

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

This one hits home with me. Growing up it was not uncommon for me to come down stairs each morning to find that my best friend "Flick" was sitting in my living room eating oatmeal that my Mom had prepared for him. Everyone called my Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad. We never knocked on doors, we just walked in and said "Hi".

Thanks for the memory.

Bill [/quote]Amen to that Bill - exactly the same here. We moved to a new neghborhood last year, one that is teeming with young kids. We moved here specifically so that we could have an atmosphere similar to the ones my wife and I grew up in. I am overjoyed when the little girl across the alley comes over everyday, unannounced, to play with our younger one, and was ecstatic when my older son took our advice (which seemed very alien to him) and went from one friend's house to the next until he found someone who wanted to play. Unannounced, no phone calls from parents, no 'play dates' - just the way we grew up. There's too little of that nowadays. Of course, the sad part is that he had to try 3 houses before he found someone.... first house the boys were all gone (typical overscheduling - they are never home), one house the boys were busy, and one house the boy wanted to play football on his Nintendo video game instead of actually playing football outside. My son, thank God, opted not to go in and play videogames with him, but rather to search for someone who wanted to run around outside in the cold. In the summer the boys make an impromptu baseball diamond in the street and go at it while the neighborhood dog runs around - looks just like a Rockwell painting. [img]smile.gif[/img]

On a separate topic, we don't have videogames in the house, save a little Gameboy that my sister-in-law gave to my older son. I wish she hadn't - that thing is terrible for sucking up their attention for an hour at a time. My wife, the teacher, otherwise has them doing projects, reading, or simply ENTERTAINING THEMSELVES (!. without TV or a computer! what a novel idea, huh?).

PS: Fish, when we first moved in here, I came in one day to my house and there were kids running around inside and I had no idea who they were. They were eating our food and playing - I commented to my wife that I didn't know we moved into a commune!

[Mahler]

Wow! So great to hear that there are pockets of sanity still around. Real neighborhoods with real kids who do real things with other real kids. A novel idea, indeed.

Mahler

[BobTheKillerGoldfish]

Mahler, as one of the few Irish on here (and I mean actually Irish, not one of those "My mother's friend's psychic's, pet Chuawa one had an owner who saw Riverdance" types), let me say thanks for the Paddys Day plug, hope everyone has good craic on the day, I know I will. I've been off alcohol since Christmas and Paddy's Day is my cut off, my God I've missed Guinness

[Irishdazza]

Yeah but can you call that stuff you get in London Guinness....really?

I'm stuck in Jersey and will be living with a Genius substitute Thursday, myself....

[BobTheKillerGoldfish]

Yeah, it's pish over here. I probably won't actually be drinking it anyway, but I'll be home again soon and I'll make up for it!

[jimb213]

Originally posted by Mahler:

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang
the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Me and a few friends did this all the time when I was growing up, and I'm only 26! Although we did usually call to make sure we were home. And we played in the neighborhood all the time, riding bikes around, playing in the woods behind my house, swimming, etc. good times!

[BamaDave]

Gawsh dang, Mahler -- 330 on the deadlift!!! You're a beast!! You just keep raising the bar.

This post mostly represents how I grew up. Yes, we played outside ALL the time. But my Mom was ahead of her time somewhat in safety paranoia. LOL. At least to some degree. Not as bad as now. I was one of the few kids growing up in the 70's who had to wear a seat belt. And from what I have heard, when I was a baby, my Mom used to follow me around and put blankets out in front of me so I wouldn't crawl onto bare floor. ROFL!!