I attended an inspiring International Coach Federation – Toronto meeting last night where the guest speaker, S. Lynne Everatt, spoke about the importance of fitness in everyday life. Amongst all of the talk about how fitness makes you look better and feel better and can delay the onset of dementia and improve your sex life, etc., we learned just how much we North Americans have reduced our physical fitness. She went on to talk about the Sweat Rx where our goals should be to sweat every day for 30-60 minutes with some form of walking, jogging, running or sprinting.
The relevance to us coaches, was how we could promote physical activity to our clients — with the result of them feeling more engaged and energized and better able to face and solve just about any situation. Those of our clients in transition who are looking for their next opportunity can often become discouraged and disillusioned. Activity may help improve their mindset and energize them for their continued job search.
But the ‘aha’ moment came when she talked about the Mosquito effect. You see, she and her sister were ice skaters as kids and performed in mosquito costumes (stingers and all). She fondly recalled the everyday activity she enjoyed as a youngster (but please note that she is a self-described ‘fitness evangelist’ today and still maintains a high degree of physical fitness) and challenged us to write a poem recalling our ‘mosquito moment’ when we were youngsters playing as part of our daily routine.
So, here’s mine to share with all of you. I challenge you to leave yours below in the comment section:
I am from roller skates put on over Keds sneakers and tightened with a metal key
I am from ‘stoop ball’ playing with a brand new Spalding until the sun went down and we could no longer see the ball
I am from hopscotch, drawn with colored chalk on the streets of New York City and played with pebbles as markers
I am from ‘red light/green light’ played in front of my apartment building with all the kids on the block
I am from bicycling (not cycling) up and down Suicide Hill — fast and furious — before the movie made that phrase famous
I am from dancing on the sidewalk spinning 45s on a portable record player
I am from the 60s when we only came inside when the street lights came on and our moms called us up for the night.
When are you from?
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