So, what else has been on my mind this week? I have a dear friend, Veronica Diamond, who was nice enough to nominate me for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. When I saw this I wasn't quite sure how to react or how I felt about it. To be honest, I found myself a bit confused, annoyed, and a little honored. Allow me to explain a little. I knew that ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease as it is known was just that, a disease, but I didn't really know much more about it. So what is ALS exactly? Here is what I learned...
That there is the actual definition taken straight from the ALS Association's website. I mention this for one reason; I have heard both good and bad things about this ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. One common thing that I have seen was a questioning of the rules for this challenge. Some rules say that if you are nominated you either donate $100 to ALS or you dump a bucket of ice water over your head. The other set of rules states that if you are nominated you have a choice, donate $100 to ALS or donate $10 to ALS and dump a bucket of ice water over your head. So, here is my issue, and there are a few. Raising money to help out with research and what not for ALS is a great cause so I can't see why, if you choose to participate in the challenge, you can't donate at least $10. Now, some people take issue with being nominated because they feel like they are obligated to donate. No, not at all, I don't feel that anybody should be obligated to give to a certain cause or any cause for that matter. In fact, if you don't want to participate then don't. You won't look like a schmuck. Nor should you feel obligated to donate to ALS. If you want to be a part of this I am sure it will work for any worthy cause that you see fit. I have heard arguments from people trying to defend the first set of rules that allows you to just take the bucket of ice water without donating because they say it "draws awareness to ALS". Fine, I see that point but honestly, that is the reason I posted the definition for what ALS is. You see, I was aware of ALS already and when I wanted to know more about what it was I turned to my old friend Google. However, even though I am now not only aware but educated about ALS, my phenomenal use of Google really didn't do much to help ALS or any other charitable cause.
So here is what I decided to do, I ACCEPTED MY NOMINATION WITH PRIDE!!
As you can see from the video, I took my bucket. Mind you, this was no 50 gallon drum challenge but I did use a 5 gallon bucket of water and apparently some gravel thank you very much. To this bucket we added two large bags of ice, REAL ICE, as there are some that think cold water is sufficient, BTW IT'S NOT, and let it soak for about 10 minutes to get nice and frosty. I even added in a little fun and intrigue by having a masked man wearing San Francisco 49's gear do the pouring of what was a numbingly cold dousing. Most importantly, before I did any of this I made my donation to ALS.
I am not saying this to brag but to explain the part where I said I felt honored. Even though I was only able to donate a small amount I was honored that somebody thought of me as a choice to help out a good cause and rather than just doing the water challenge to "be part of the crowd", I was actually able to do something to help.
Ok, let me recap, confused about the rules, annoyed by the, as they say, slacktivism (which by the way is a GREAT word), and honored by the fact that somebody thought highly enough about me to choose me to help out a great cause. So I will end my discussion about this whole ALS Ice Bucket Challenge deal with this, I challenge every single person that reads this!
No, in fact I do not challenge you to the Ice Bucket Challenge because I have already made my nominations. I challenge you all to follow your hearts on this. If you are indeed feeling charitable there are any number of causes that need our support. ALS, MS, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell, or any other need that, either, isn't being met or needs help in any way possible. You may disagree, but in some way every little penny counts no matter how cliche that sounds. If you are not led to be charitable that is fine too. How does that old saying go? Charity begins at home. So if you are able and led to then by all means do but if not then don't. My challenge is simple...try.
I was asked by somebody this exact quote, "and this does, or proves or accomplishes what?" referencing my video of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I think that I have answered that above but there are a few other benefits that came about for me from doing this. I had some good laughs and good memories with some people I consider family and as I told you in my last post, I will always choose the adventure! I must admit that even though this was for charity and I did have fun doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge it personally accomplished something for me. Yep folks, time to bring this all back around to my epic journey that I have been traveling on and documenting through this blog. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has shown me that in part, I am a practitioner of SLACKTIVISIM in regards to my weight loss.
Slacktivism is a portmanteau of the words slacker and activism. The word is usually considered a pejorative term that describes "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it take satisfaction from the feeling they have contributed. The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist.
It hurts to realize that I am not doing ALL that I could be doing to lose this weight that is killing me. I go to my Weight Watchers to make myself feel good and I write this blog to gain even more encouragement but then I allow myself to slip and eat things that I know I shouldn't. Ever since I returned to my Weight Watchers meeting and started again at writing the blog I have been struggling. I know that my environment hasn't been the best. There are always desserts and what not around here and to a point it almost seems like sabotage but that is just another excuse to not give my all. My father and sister are not trying to sabotage my progress and it is not fair for me to expect them to not have these treats around.
I now find myself with more money due to working a much more regular schedule and lots of OT. This means I am eating out more often again. If good old Craig Shinkle orders lunch at work that doesn't mean I have to. Doing this challenge and experiencing all of the things that I did I must now MAN UP AND FOLLOW THROUGH!! I am doing an OK job but I can do better! If I can take 5 gallons of ice water I can do this!
I know this week's post wasn't as colorful as normal but this is what was on my mind. I want to thank you all for the support and I hope in one way or another you all find some way to meet my challenge and help out. I love you all and may God bless you all throughout your week. To be continued...
So here is what I decided to do, I ACCEPTED MY NOMINATION WITH PRIDE!!
I am not saying this to brag but to explain the part where I said I felt honored. Even though I was only able to donate a small amount I was honored that somebody thought of me as a choice to help out a good cause and rather than just doing the water challenge to "be part of the crowd", I was actually able to do something to help.
Ok, let me recap, confused about the rules, annoyed by the, as they say, slacktivism (which by the way is a GREAT word), and honored by the fact that somebody thought highly enough about me to choose me to help out a great cause. So I will end my discussion about this whole ALS Ice Bucket Challenge deal with this, I challenge every single person that reads this!
No, in fact I do not challenge you to the Ice Bucket Challenge because I have already made my nominations. I challenge you all to follow your hearts on this. If you are indeed feeling charitable there are any number of causes that need our support. ALS, MS, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell, or any other need that, either, isn't being met or needs help in any way possible. You may disagree, but in some way every little penny counts no matter how cliche that sounds. If you are not led to be charitable that is fine too. How does that old saying go? Charity begins at home. So if you are able and led to then by all means do but if not then don't. My challenge is simple...try.
I was asked by somebody this exact quote, "and this does, or proves or accomplishes what?" referencing my video of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I think that I have answered that above but there are a few other benefits that came about for me from doing this. I had some good laughs and good memories with some people I consider family and as I told you in my last post, I will always choose the adventure! I must admit that even though this was for charity and I did have fun doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge it personally accomplished something for me. Yep folks, time to bring this all back around to my epic journey that I have been traveling on and documenting through this blog. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has shown me that in part, I am a practitioner of SLACKTIVISIM in regards to my weight loss.
Slacktivism is a portmanteau of the words slacker and activism. The word is usually considered a pejorative term that describes "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it take satisfaction from the feeling they have contributed. The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist.
It hurts to realize that I am not doing ALL that I could be doing to lose this weight that is killing me. I go to my Weight Watchers to make myself feel good and I write this blog to gain even more encouragement but then I allow myself to slip and eat things that I know I shouldn't. Ever since I returned to my Weight Watchers meeting and started again at writing the blog I have been struggling. I know that my environment hasn't been the best. There are always desserts and what not around here and to a point it almost seems like sabotage but that is just another excuse to not give my all. My father and sister are not trying to sabotage my progress and it is not fair for me to expect them to not have these treats around.
I now find myself with more money due to working a much more regular schedule and lots of OT. This means I am eating out more often again. If good old Craig Shinkle orders lunch at work that doesn't mean I have to. Doing this challenge and experiencing all of the things that I did I must now MAN UP AND FOLLOW THROUGH!! I am doing an OK job but I can do better! If I can take 5 gallons of ice water I can do this!
I know this week's post wasn't as colorful as normal but this is what was on my mind. I want to thank you all for the support and I hope in one way or another you all find some way to meet my challenge and help out. I love you all and may God bless you all throughout your week. To be continued...
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