I’m just a nurse

I’m not a body builder. I’m not in particularly good shape, but I’m not in bad shape. I have MS and work in critical care. I keep healthy by diet (food is medicine; or food is poison, you pick) and exercise. I used to swim daily (trying to get back into it) and I have a modest gym at home. When I’m on call, I try to spend that waiting time doing exercise to strengthen my knees and back.

My late best friend was an Arnold super fan. For decades he talked about the respect he had for him, and how Arnold never took no for an answer. How in the face of doubts from others, Arnold not only succeeded, but excelled.

Fast forward to when I’m now a middle aged lady, tired and broken by working the pandemic, and politics, and world news—and becoming a widow…I came upon the Pump Club and it has motivated me in ways I can’t describe. I commute and stream all the episodes (I’m catching up) and I find myself smiling for the first time in many months, years, as I listen to Arnold talk. I nod when he talks about nutrition, and supplements, and the science backed research—his comments are well-researched and intelligent. I’m tired of hearing about these fads, that everyone jumps on in hopes off “hacking” their health and fitness. Arnold very wisely lays it out in 12 minute segments—there are no hacks. Sleep well, eat well, exercise when you can. That’s it-that’s what works.
And he’s right.

But the real value in this podcast is the positive message that comes through. It’s as if you are sitting and having a lively chat with a trusted, knowledgeable friend. A kind and positive friend, with whom you sit and chat and hours go by feeling like minutes. You always leave feeling better and more hopeful.

I know my world went dark after COVID—the way people started arguing and fighting, the science deniers and how politicized it became. Then the last flicker of light went out when my husband died suddenly at 58. I’ve been sleepwalking since. I tried picking my life up by the remaining little pieces, but after listening to a few of these podcasts, I find that I’m finally in a place where I can do my small part in the world, I can do what I can to make the world a little more kind, never-mind everything else and everyone else—bullies don’t win. In the long run, live and positivity is more powerful than hate and divisiveness. I’m motivated to start working in my health a little more and making what small changes I can , day to day, to make lasting benefits. It’s possibly the best 12 minutes of the day, listening to these podcasts, as far as the return you get from 12 minutes invested.

And small changes are the lasting changes—the man who carries away small stones consistently and repeatedly, eventually moves a mountain.