Getting Back Up

By Chris Mittelstaedt
September 2, 2011
Reading Time: 2 mins.

I’ve always been a pretty active person—something that made coming down with a random medical condition all the more humbling. About a month ago I had an acute onset of achalasia, an uncommon disorder in which the muscles around the lower esophagus clamp down like a boa constrictor and restrict food and liquid from getting into the stomach. A FruitGuy without the ability to get nutrition— life is pretty ironic. Doctors suspect a virus that attacks the nerves cause the condition, but they really don’t know why it happens. I had an operation and am now on the mend and trying to get back into my exercise routine.

Trying to get healthy can be overwhelming and even depressing, especially when you feel you’re starting from scratch. It’s my opinion that at these times we all need a reliable touchstone—whether it’s a vision of being healthy in the future or the Rocky theme music playing in our heads, we need to find some way to stave off the tar pit–like inertia that can keep us from making progress on our goals. I found that walking more and walking faster was a great way to shake off my post-surgery inertia and start getting my heart rate up again. From there, I started easing back into my routines. I’ve never been a supporter of the “get rich quick” mentality that grips our culture (both in terms of health and in business). The reality is that for most of us, it’s the consistent accumulation of small steps forward that creates long-term health and success. The key is not giving up.

I’ve thought about this a lot lately as I’ve heard stories from our East Coast farmers whose crops were affected by Hurricane Irene. Some will have a great deal of work to do to recover their farm’s health; others were spared. The impulse to get up again after being knocked down and to take positive steps forward is a good and, I think, very American one.

So as we begin the transition from the height of summer fruit into fall, let’s take notice of the changes nature makes at this time of year. It’s a good time to pause and think about what changes we want to make to our health even if they involve small steps forward. As always, check our mix pages to see what’s in your case this week: fruitguys.com/mix