Running for mayor of Tampa a few years ago was a wonderful experience and I recommend a run for office to nearly everyone with a sense of adventure and a sense of humor, not to mention ideas for making the world at least a slightly better place.
In doing so for a mayor's job, I put together nearly a hundred short talks that were offered to a wide variety of audiences during a six-month campaign.
But, there are so many reasons I'm glad I ran for mayor it seemed a good idea to share them with others.
Maybe I can convince someone to go for it and, who knows, because of this article a future president will be set on his or her way.
One good reason to run for office is the opportunity it provides to appear before distinguished groups that otherwise might not allow you to enter through the front door.
Another is you can allow your inner free spirit to run along with you! For starters, I must say that I had the coolest campaign theme of all the candidates.
Did anyone else have a more appropriate, original and memorable campaign theme than my call for a well city that would be "fit, fun, free and functional?" No, nobody else came close.
And do you think anyone had a better description of his candidacy than my assertion of being "the oldest, fittest, fastest and prettiest of all the candidates?" My campaign was about the importance of choices we all make each and every day that affect our well being, more than doctors and drugs combined, to enable us to be healthy and robust.
The wellness initiatives I would advance as mayor were then and are now supported by a timeless idea - one worth considering and adopting at any time during life.
It is this: What you do for your own health makes all the difference.
Our choices lead to better health or a health status not so good.
For that reason, I went about the city describing not only the nature of a well city, but what it means to be a well person.
I described what wellness is about, emphasizing why it matters to votes as individuals and to the city.
I urged everyone to integrate wellness into their lives, even if they were not planning to vote for me! Do you think of yourself as a well person? May I see a show of hands? Who in this room considers him or herself well? * You have a great body and you're proud of your fitness level.
* Your diet is carefully chosen - and high in fruits and vegetables, low in fats and simple sugars.
* Stress is not much of an issue - hardly anything upsets your serenity.
* You have a wonderful sense of humor and your days are filled with fun and play.
* You love your work and would probably do it even if you were not paid! * You are clear and happy about your life's meaning and purpose - like Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes fame, you know why you were put here and why everything exists.
(And, unlike Calvin, you don't think it's "so everyone can do what I want!") Then I would say, let me once again see a show of hands of how many here consider themselves really well? (Much laughter, very few hands in the air.
) It's not unusual to see fewer hands AFTER I outline the specifics for well person-hood.
Being well at a modestly ambitious level is a challenge many people can't seem to manage.
It takes too much time, most believe.
What about normal? How many here are normal? What IS normal, and why would you want to be normal? Isn't normal a form of mediocrity? Is it really necessary to blend in with everyone else, not to stand out in any fashion? Especially in a society such as ours, where two-thirds of the population is overweight or obese? I'd finish but asking one last question: How many middle-age folks do we have among us today? Could I see a show of hands? I'd ask, after varied responses, "What IS middle age?" I'd explain that the consensus among experts is that there is no such thing.
Nobody can say when middle age begins, ends or how it would be defined and measured.
It's all in your head.
It depends-on many factors.
Middle age is, in fact, whatever you want it to be or, more likely, whatever you allow it to be.
If you think you are too old to be exceptionally well, or put another way, to be remarkably fit, fun, free and functional, then you will NOT be very fit, fun, free or able to move about in a high functional capacity.
Expectations reinforce attitudes, behaviors, standards and outcomes.
Don't settle for normalcy.
Set a higher standard - choose wellness.
Why doesn't everyone choose wellness lifestyles? Why do so many settle for mediocrity? Voters would be advised that there are Folks, there are many reasons to reward choosing wellness, but they all come down to two: One that is negative and one is positive.
The latter should be enough, but I'll offer the negative anyway.
I hope it won't frighten- The negative is that unnecessary, avoidable illness is very expensive, as well as dangerous, so wellness pays just by helping you avoid illness.
The costs associated with even moderate, normal lifestyles are extraordinary, and possibly unsustainable.
Thus, avoidance of illness, a negative motivation, is one reason to choose wellness.
There is a better reason.
The second, superior motivator is the exceptional benefits and payoffs of a wellness lifestyle.
Then I would summarize each of these two basic reasons and offer a few simple suggestions.
My goal was to arouse voter interest in pursuing wellness if not voting for a mayor who enthused about it - for either of these two basic reasons.
Hopefully, the latter (positive) would be more appealing.
I could not help adding a few additional comments on the negative rationale for choosing wellness.
A wellness lifestyle will improve chances of avoiding excess weight (now endured by 64 percent of adult Americans) and a long list of possible illnesses and diseases.
It will also save money, in that all encounters with the $2.
8 trillion dollar sickness system are expensive, even WITH a generous health insurance policy, did not enjoy 41 million citizens did not enjoy before Obamacare.
Live well and you will probably live longer and, more important, you will have more mobility, better health and added fun in your final ten or so years.
(At present, life expectancy has reached 78.
2 years, up from 77 in 2000, and has increased for both men and women as well as for whites and blacks.
For men, life expectancy increased from 74.
3 years in 2000 to 74.
4 years in 2001; for women, life expectancy increased from 79.
7 years to 79.
8 years.
) The positive rationale for choosing wellness is that you will look and feel better, have more energy and experience a better sex life.
Isn't that enough? If not, let me add that you will be fitter, less stressed, more admired, a better decision maker, able to play more and have more fun and more likely to discover added meaning and purpose.
At least, it seems that way to me.
A few simple suggestions capped off my appeal to the voters.
* Find a way to get paid for doing whatever it is you enjoy.
* Do what you must to experience a lot of DBRUs every day.
DRBU is an idea I got from a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon.
You had to be there.
* Adopt a perspective that embraces responsibility for whatever goes well or poorly.
Get on with making the best of things, given conditions that exist.
This is much better than succumbing to tendencies to blame, excuse, whine, whimper or shift accountability to someone or something else.
* Do not rely on the health care system for YOUR health.
The American so-called health care system that Obama has been trying to reform is not about health at all - it's a huge disease and illness-based business irrelevant to excellent health and a disciplined wellness lifestyle.
No matter how expensive or how wondrous doctors, drugs and the medical system can be when used appropriately, what you do or do not do (in concert with human biology/culture/and your environment) will be the critical variable in affecting the quality of your appearance, vitality and overall health.
* Go out of your way daily to experience humor, lightness, fun, joy - good times by whatever name you prefer.
Laughter and assorted pleasures strengthen your immune system, metabolize bad vibes and act in 1001 ways to make life richer and fuller.
Unlike frustrations, setbacks, tragedy and disaster, however, initiative is needed to bring these sensations up beyond the minimal level of occurrences.
* Develop a deep and abiding sense of tolerance for diversity of all kinds.
This applies to differences in styles, appearances, religions, politics, values and opinions - especially those at variance with your own.
This is an effective way to eliminate negative stressors.
The latter so often derive largely from that come from attempts to change people, to persuade others to think or be more like you.
* Find as many people to love as possible.
Some of them will probably love you back, or at least be nice to you.
* Do some original thinking about why you are here and what it's all about.
Too many accept what they were programmed to think.
As a free adult, it's your right to decide for yourself.
* Be of service to others - it's good for your health and sense of purpose.
Frankl, Maslow, Yalom and dozens of other psychiatrists, existentialists and assorted scholars have urged engagement for mental health.
Find lots of heroes to emulate, in some ways.
It's not a good idea to adopt a single hero, for everyone has strengths and weaknesses and only the former are worth copying.
Think of traits you admire and the people who manage those qualities with dignity, panache and flair - or whatever appeals to you.
When you want to function at what you consider your best in these areas, think of your hero for that aspect of living.
How would he/she deal with this? Then do your version, with the role model (hero) in mind.
By the way, my hero is the aforementioned Calvin.
I just ask myself, "What would Calvin do (WWCD)?" Then, everything becomes clear.
For those not familiar with Bill Watterson's late, lamented cartoon strip, consider this typical Calvin remark: In vouching for his character in a recent letter to Santa Claus, his imaginary friend Hobbes said, "...
the kid tries to be sort of good if he's not tempted otherwise.
" Think of the fun you, too, could have working your own passion into a political campaign.
I hope you will consider running for something.