As a bicyclist, I probably one of the first to be interested in Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG campaign. Ever since he won his 6th consecutive Tour de France, it seems like everyone and anyone can be seen wearing his LIVESTRONG armbands. Most wearing the band could probably care less about biking or the Tour de France, but are likely supporting the fight against cancer for which this band symbolizes.
Will I’m all for people supporting cancer research (I have two of the bands as well), I have to wonder how many people who buy these bands actually “live strong” and how many just buy the bands in the hopes that their $1 contribution will contribute to what is someday the cure for cancer? To me, the point of the band, beyond the $1 contribution, is to tell people, “Hey! I’m choosing to lead a better life for myself and not just become another over-weight, lazy human! I am going to 'live strong' by taking care of my mind and body so that it I may lead a better life.” Obviously, Lance truly is “living strong”… his body is in better shape than probably 99.999999% of the rest of the world and that’s probably the reason why his body was able to fight off his cancer.
Improving your own health through proper diet and exercise as well as encouraging others to do the same will do more for fighting cancer than monetary contributions and yellow bands will do… yet how many people who buy these bands take a serious look at their own lifestyle and make the change to “live strong”? As of recently, the government (well, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration) recently changed its recommendations for good health to basically stating, “eat less, exercise more.” This includes 30-minutes to an hour of exercise every day in addition to recommending that we eat a ton of fruits and vegetables, grains, etc. Typically, when the government makes a recommendation, it’s not setting a very high standard but more of a “minimum requirement”… do you get as much exercise as they recommend? Heck, I like to think I’m active and even I don’t!
The American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association have teamed-up to address this problem of people simply not taking care of themselves by creating a web site called Everyday Choices. You may have already seen their television add called “Protect Yourself” which depicts a woman who locks herself into her apartment to protect herself form intruders, only to plop-down on the couch, light-up a cigarette and eat some junk food. (You can see this commercial and get many other useful health tips on the Everyday Choices web site.) Unfortunately, I knew far too many people who smoke, eat a steady diet of junk food, and are nearly allergic to exercise, yet these same people often sport a yellow band on their wrist. Isn’t something wrong with this picture?
Anyway, I know it’s hard to truly “live strong”, at least by my standards… but I’m going to keep trying.