{"id":21640,"date":"2023-08-11T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/?p=21640"},"modified":"2023-08-04T09:16:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T16:16:38","slug":"healthy-aging-believing-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/all-mfn\/healthy-aging-believing-value\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Aging and You: Believing in Your Value"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>My experience has taught me that the key to living a happy, healthy and fit life is to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate our own individual and unique value. This thought occurred to me again in late January when I was interviewed by Kate Delaney for her nationally syndicated radio program on public access radio. She focused on my writing \u2013 specifically my book \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Healthy-Aging-You-Journey-Becoming\/dp\/1466980893\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483573832&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Healthy+Aging+%26+You%3A+Your+Journey+to+Becoming+Happy%2C+Healthy+%26+Fit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Healthy Aging &amp; You<\/a>\u201d \u2013 and asked me to discuss the principles and ideas that I considered important \u201cto growing older and not old\u201d. This idea of becoming \u201cmore\u201d as we age is one that enlivens and inspires me each day to become the&nbsp; best version of myself that I can possibly be. Through my interview I recognized \u2013 finally \u2013 that I have learned to \u201cvalue myself\u201d and this has led me to want to share with you what that means in terms of healthy aging as I now understand it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"America Tonight Interview with Nicholas S. Prukop | LitFire Publishing\" width=\"1161\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y_tdAMxT2Kc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>DECIDING<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The first and most important point I want to make is that we must DECIDE to value ourselves and then allow a learning process to unfold that enables and inspires us to DEFINE what that means for ourselves. For mean the value I have decided for myself is the value that comes with becoming passionate about fitness as age. I value my health above all things including family, money and time because through being healthy I get the opportunity to make my own unique contribution to life \u2013 and help as many people as I can while I am still here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My contribution is the value I create by being committed to my PURPOSE which as I state on my website (<a href=\"http:\/\/healthyhappyfit.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">healthyhappyfit.com<\/a>) is to \u201cchange one thing in one person\u2019s life today&#8221;. As I spoke to Kate and answered her questions, I realized I am absolutely CLEAR on what it is I am here to do and WHY I am doing it. My mission is to make a difference in the lives of people of all ages so that they too can access the benefits of a \u201clife well lived\u201d. Each person on the planet has been endowed with unique gifts and through the sharing of those gifts CAN create a life of meaning and fulfillment if they are committed to their vision and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>CREATING<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating the best life we can from this perspective of sharing our \u201cnatural gifts\u201d and living from our own unique vision that embodies our \u201cbest example\u201d of ourselves is the \u201ctrue\u201d way to health, peace and joy. As I spoke to Kate, I realized at 71 that I had arrived at a place of honesty within myself that I had never known before. I was truly \u201cbeing myself\u201d as I had always envisioned from my earliest days as a boy on Maui who loved his friends, swimming and playing. She commented on my passion and love for&nbsp; my message and said that among the thousands of people she had interviewed I was in her \u201ctop 5\u201d all time. That made my heart jump! I KNEW my value lay in my gift of expression and that I was now a legitimate \u201cadvocate\u201d for the principles of healthy aging as I had described them in \u201cHealthy Aging &amp; You\u201d just before my 60th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating a life of meaning and value takes time. It is something we \u201cgrow into\u201d as we experience the life we are living and cannot be rushed or \u201cmanufactured\u201d. It has to be real and created from \u201cwithin\u201d by the words we use daily (self talk), the thoughts we entertain, the beliefs we hold that inspire us, the choices we make, and finally, the actions we take in support of our daily goals. Where the \u201crubber meets the road\u201d for me is the training that I do daily \u2013 mentally, physically, and spiritually to enhance my vision and purpose. I am inspiring people every day in my fitness programming at the gym where I train because many know me as \u201cthe old guy\u201d running and lifting his way to fitness goals that I don\u2019t believe exist anywhere in the country at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/beach-2090091_640.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/beach-2090091_640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/beach-2090091_640-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/beach-2090091_640-570x380.jpg 570w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/beach-2090091_640-380x254.jpg 380w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/beach-2090091_640-285x190.jpg 285w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>For me being the best \u201cexample of the change I wish to see in the world\u201d is embodied in my workouts and meditation and daily prayer work. I believe in the \u201cinner journey\u201d of life and not to rely on others to define me. This is MY job. Since that day in June of 1985 when I first heard a speaker say in a presentation to a national speaker\u2019s association audience that \u201cif we don\u2019t know what we stand for, we will fall for anything\u201d. I have made it my personal mission to LEARN what I stand for in life. This understanding and \u201cknowing\u201d came through my interview with Kate and I am hopeful and grateful every day as a result of this insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>DOING<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Doing is the final piece to the puzzle of \u201cvaluing oneself\u201d. We have to act and create in order to live a life of meaning and contribution. I understand my future is limited and that I will never know how much time I have left in which to share my message BUT I DO KNOW I can act TODAY and that is enough. My workouts are developed from my passion for fitness and my work is derived from this basic \u201cimpulse\u201d I have to train and be stronger and faster as I age. Today I am running 6 mile training runs at high intensity and lifting weights and stretching to insure I can PERFORM at the highest levels for my audiences in the future. This is MY REASON FOR BEING now and it suits me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can see me \u201cdoing\u201d my work for years to come because I valued not only myself over the years but my&nbsp; life as well. This knowledge was always within me and through my spiritual journey I learned how to measure and understand it as a part of my daily life. I am \u201cpracticing\u201d the principles of healthy aging every day in my choosing and activities so that my presentations continue to be authentically \u201creal\u201d and meaningful to those I contact in the future. It is in the DOING that we become \u201cfully realized human beings\u201d and my guess is that we ALL want to leave behind something unique that only we could create! This idea makes sense doesn\u2019t it? Get busy \u201cdoing\u201d today what you CAN to become the best version&nbsp; of yourself that you can be but remember to \u201cthink\u201d first about WHY you are doing what you are doing and remain \u201cconnected\u201d to your inner self \u2013 the only \u201ctrue guide\u201d you will ever need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In Summary<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>I have shared three key ideas with you that you can use today to improve your chances of living a life you have always dreamed of experiencing. MY hope is that like me this year through my interview with Kate Delaney, you will want to discover your \u201ctrue value\u201d and DECIDE to live your life in accordance with that value. Your goals need to include every aspect of your being mentally, spiritually and physically because all three of these principles are required if we are to find our true value in becoming the best version of ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How and when you decide to act on this challenge is entirely up to you. You create and embody what you choose to BE and this includes the words we use daily, the thoughts we entertain, the beliefs that we hold, the choices we make everyday and finally, the actions we decide to take in support of our purpose. My hope for you is that you find yourself getting excited and becoming as passionate as I feel right now because I know time WILL run out for me too and I DO NOT want to leave this life with any regret \u2013 or guilt \u2013 over \u201cwhat could have been\u201d if only I had acted! Travel well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Originally printed on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.healthynewage.com\/healthy-aging-and-you-believing-in-your-value-by-nicholas-prukop-healthy-aging-specialist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HealthyNewAge.com<\/a>. Reprinted with permission from Nicholas Prukop.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Nicholas Prukop is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer &amp; a Health Coach, a fitness professional with over 25 years of experience whose passion for health and fitness comes from his boyhood in Hawaii where he grew up a swimmer on Maui. He found his calling in writing his first book \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Healthy-Aging-You-Journey-Becoming\/dp\/1466980893\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483573832&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Healthy+Aging+%26+You%3A+Your+Journey+to+Becoming+Happy%2C+Healthy+%26+Fit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Healthy Aging &amp; You: Your Journey to Becoming Happy, Healthy &amp; Fit<\/a>\u201d and since then he has dedicated himself to empowering, inspiring and enabling people of all ages to reach for the best that is within them and become who they are meant to be \u2013 happy, healthy and fit \u2013 and be a part of a world where each person can contribute their own unique gifts to life.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If you need help in designing a fitness plan, you can contact Nicholas Prukop via email at&nbsp;runningnick@sbcglobal.net&nbsp;or read his inspiring book&nbsp;Healthy Aging &amp; YOU.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My experience has taught me that the key to living a happy, healthy and fit life is to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate our own individual and unique value. This thought occurred to me again in late January when I was interviewed by Kate Delaney for her nationally syndicated radio program on public access radio. She focused on my writing \u2013 specifically my book \u201cHealthy Aging &amp; You\u201d \u2013 and asked me to discuss the principles and ideas that I considered important \u201cto growing older and not old\u201d. This idea of becoming \u201cmore\u201d as we age is one that enlivens and inspires me each day to become the&nbsp; best version of myself that I can possibly be. Through my interview I recognized \u2013 finally \u2013 that I have learned to \u201cvalue myself\u201d and this has led me to want to share with you what that means in terms of healthy aging as I now understand it. DECIDING The first and most important point I want to make is that we must DECIDE to value ourselves and then allow a learning process to unfold that enables and inspires us to DEFINE what that means for ourselves. For mean the value I have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":21245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[193],"class_list":["post-21640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-mfn","tag-healthy-aging"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21640"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33393,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21640\/revisions\/33393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}