A role model is someone others respect and look to as a good example. They try to make good decisions, put others first and often imitated by those around them. They “think before they act….not act before they think.” They are the people we want our children to be around, whether it is a teacher, coach or family member. Your Health Journal wanted to highlight some special individuals who are good role models and allow them to share their stories here. Enjoy!
1. Your name, title, and age? What do you do (or did you do) for a living?
Nita Sweeney, author of Depression Hates a Moving Target. I am 58. I am a retired lawyer. I write, coach writers, and teaching writing and meditation.
2. Who was the person that inspired you as a child to eat healthy and stay fit? What was their relationship to you?
My father was that role model. Although he had a “day job” as an engineer with Ohio Bell Telephone Company, we lived on a 50-acre farm and as soon as he came home from the office, he was outside, in the barn, feeding the cattle, fixing the electric fence, planting a garden, cultivating the fields, digging post holes, painting fence, and running the combine. He rarely sat still. He also rarely ate sweets. He was a bit of a “meat and potatoes man” but in the summer we ate the vegetables we grew until they were gone and then we ate the ones we canned or froze.
3. What did they do to inspire you?
He inspired me through his actions. I thought of him as successful and productive. He valued hard work. I wanted to be like him.
4. How did their lesson change your life?
He taught me to pursue my goals and challenge myself. He rarely gave up on a project. Instead, he would find a “work-around.” Sometimes these were odd, like the metal tubing he put around the telephone cord in the barn because the mice kept eating it. But I watched his inventiveness and determination. It went a long way.
5. Do you convey their message to kids in your life presently?
I don’t have children, but I try to inspire my stepsons to do their best. I sometimes think of my writing clients as children and I hope to pass my father’s legacy on to them.
6. What would be your main message to children today to lead healthy lifestyles?
Find an exercise you enjoy and pursue it even if you’re not good at it. You will have to work hard and having a pastime helps ease the stress. My father enjoyed physical labor. And once he retired from the farm, he took up golf. Seeing him active taught me a lot as well.
7. Do you have a web site you would like to promote….web address only?