What Fitness Means to Me: And How to Improve . . .

[chrisandniki]

Hello all,

Quick question. As I get more into my 30's, I'm realizing that fitness (at least to me) means being physically, financially, spiritually, and family fit.

So, along those lines, I've found the following great 'programs' to help me improve in those areas:

- Physical Fitness: Transformetrics (of course). I also like the 5BX Plan (a wonderful little program created by the Canadian Royal Air Force -- do a Google search). That 5BX Plan is all bodyweight and uses a lot of Transformetrics exercises.

- Financial Fitness: Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. A great, common sense approach to personal finance.

- Spiritual Fitness: 30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders . . . along with the Bible itself. Sprituallity is a very personal subject and there are other wonderful spiritual and religious texts around. This is just my preference.

- Family Fitness: Here's my question. Do you all have any books you'd suggest on strengthening your marriages and families?

I feel very blessed to have the wonderful relationship I do with my wife and children. But I also believe that one should never stop learning and improving in life.

Any suggestions on any of the areas of fitness would be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Chris

[jan]

Hello Chris,

and welcome to the forum :act-up:
I do not have any English book on family fitness as you call it, but I do know that Wallace D. Wattles wrote a book about how to have a happy marriage, called 'How to energize your marriage'.

Jan

[tom]

Chris;

There are many good books that have something to offer. One classic is the Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus. That may get into your head that there are definite gender differences. There is another, with the title Seven Keys (to a successful marriage) or something like that. I'm sure there are more, some that others will recommend as better. The point is to think about it and work at it.

A more serious consideration is culture. Marrying someone from a different culture can be extremely hard. Beware. I don't know any books on that as relates to marriage. What is the real you and she, and what is your culture, where do they separate, interact, how do you deal with each? That's the key. As one lives in a foreign country, there are important differences in family, in-group, out-group, child rearing, discipline. You've read about this, now it's time to deal with it. And as the years go by, don't assume the differences will disappear. That's when they can appear. Lucky note: round trip prices between the States and Japan have not really gone up in the last 25 years - stay connected.

Be aware, work hard, don't lose yourself or let her lose herself,
You'll be fine,

Tom