I’ve been hesitant to post this week. Nashville, the city I’ve called home for my entire life, flooded last weekend. The surrounding Middle Tennessee area also took a heavy toll in what some experts are calling a 500-year flood. As I watched news reports and personally talked to people who’ve suffered great loss, blogging about health and fitness seemed a little trite. But is it?
Time and time again flood survivors, while devastated, are making statements such as, “at least we are alive and we have our health.” It’s as if losing all material possessions have given these good folks a renewed outlook about what’s important.
At the risk of providing TMI, here's a sampling of my poison ivy, taken at my forearm.
I am currently unable to volunteer with the flood relief effort. I’ve got a case of poison ivy and it would not be wise for me to enter environments with known bacterial contaminants and flooded areas are crawling with harmful bacteria. Hopefully by next weekend I’ll be good to go. I plan to sign up with Hands on Nashville to be deployed wherever I’m needed. And I’ll go knowing I’m in good enough shape to really be useful. I know I can do some heavy lifting and provide elbow grease where needed. I don’t know that I could have said that 70 pounds ago.
So does fitness matter at a time like this. Yes, it does.
482gr8 
hi – I live in Nashville too and applaud your Volunteer spirit and recognition that we can’t just throw our hands in the air and grab the nearest Twinkie. Even at a time like this, you’re right: fitness matters.
🙂
Thank you! I hope you didn’t sustain damage during the flood. I feel so blessed. As soon as the poison ivy heals I want to help those who were not as fortunate as I was.
Pingback: Does Fitness Matter at a Time Like This? (Part 2) « 482gr8