Suffering A Long Period Of Disability

Habit is far more important than willpower. That voice lives in its own world and leaves little attention available for reality. Reality is invariably kinder and fuller of hopeful prospects than our fears would suggest. Attention is a limited resource. I witness in working with people in the gym that the objective weight they can handle declines when their attention is somewhat internally preoccupied. As Tim Gallwey has observed broadly in sports and in life in general, Performance equals potential minus interference. This seems very true. And his benchpress max is now 115 pounds. But, while he did not let common human reactions to difficulties and reversals stop him from acting, Fred still felt all the internal sensations everyone does, such as butterflies in his stomach before an important jury argument or fear when looking down an extremely steep ski slope. As he and Steven talked through what was going on internally that caused these feelings, Fred rapidly began to evolve his personal techniques for dealing with difficulties and reversals into a more broadly applicable working understanding that he now sees as critical to teaching the StrongPath. So don’t beat yourself up if you’ve been known to have the same defeatist thoughts. It is not unusual or generally unattainable willpower that is the continuing force that keeps Fred on track.

Starting All Over Again

So what’s Fred’s secret? The Journal of Clinical Psychology tells us that only 8 percent successfully keep the resolutions they make. This allows him to act consistently over time in accord with important things he has learned. Once you understand the science and the reality, your initial resistance will dissolve as the path ahead opens up, first mentally and then physically. The StrongPath is as much a mental transformation as it is a physical one. Few, if any, begin with the good habits and beneficial attitudes that were Fred’s, and that is why he could find his way to the StrongPath initially. But good habits and attitudes were not his from birth. And you can learn them, too. The StrongPath is as much a mental transformation as it is a physical one. Habits of thought can easily defeat us even before we get started, so it is important to address them from the very beginning. This is a way of saying much of behavior and attitude is habitual. As we decline physically, getting weaker and less capable with each passing year, a sense of inevitability grows. This is exacerbated as we see our ability to function in the normal activities of life steadily eroding.

First Steps

Over time, a feeling of certainty that there is little or nothing that can be done differently takes hold, and hopelessness can flood over us. It is a big stew composed of some current information and lots of past information mixed with feelings and thoughts about yourself and seasoned with sweet dreams and sharp fears concerning what lies ahead. Your mental image of yourself and your physical body constantly affect and shape each other. This advantage remained after age, gender, socioeconomic status, loneliness, and functional health were included as covariates. This mental factor also proves powerful during times of crisis. Around that time, work, which had been much more physical when he was younger, became all about going to an office. He would hurt himself and his friends would say things like you’re not a kid anymore and it’s hell getting older. While not quite 40, he did notice he was becoming less resilient. When he reached 45, one of those dramatic slides occurred. He was sitting at his desk one afternoon when he got a call from his dermatologist. A few days later, he returned home with about half of his calf removed, and life suddenly became about hobbling around on crutches, injecting interferon, and worrying about surviving. After 7 months on interferon, his hair was falling out in disturbing patches, he constantly felt sick and tired, and he had to take naps after injections.

Forgive Yourself

The face looking back at him from the mirror looked haggard, and then things took another dramatic turn for the worse. He got a cough that would not go away. It intensified over a few days until it was continuous. He was sent to the local emergency room where they confirmed the diagnosis, checked him in, and put him on intravenous antibiotics. His condition continued to deteriorate, and he got an extreme and persistent fever. Ice was packed in bags under his arms and in his groin. He could not eat, drink, or sleep without violently choking. This continued for more than 2 weeks, and his weight dropped from 185 to 145 pounds. Human immune systems usually handle it without getting ill, but Steven’s immune system, weakened by interferon, could not cope and his condition had become nearly fatal. His lungs and vocal cords were damaged. As we learned earlier, accidents and infections ended the lives of most individuals at the turn of the twentieth century without them suffering a long period of disability. If it had been his grandfather or his father, their lives would have been over. Not yet 50, he felt old, frail, and no longer confident in his health or strength. Otherwise, he was old and needed his rest, his back was weak from long bed rest periods, and it was time to slow down. If a friend needed help moving, forget it. Those days were long gone now. He saw himself in those terms. He accepted this vision of his limitations, and, over time, he physically grew into them and became the image that he saw. He did not believe he had a choice. He made peace with the idea of reduced physical ability going forward and lived it. That’s when Steven met Fred, who was almost 20 years older than Steven. At the time of this writing, Fred is 85 and continues to be very strong. If he needs to move furniture, no problem, I’ll help him. Fred Bartlit, 85 and going strong. But he was an outlier, and Steven figured his health circumstances were different.