Reach Out and Touch Someone

There was a day when long-distance phone calls were few and far between. They were special, costly, and often reserved for special occasions. Unlike college students today, who can communicate via talk, text, tweet, Instagram, Facebook, vlog, blog, FaceTime, Skype, and write the occasional snail mail letter, we were only able to call and write snail mail. Making a regular weekly call home was a special thing for me. My two sisters were still at home, and I loved catching up with my family.

During my college years (and beyond), AT&T had a great ad campaign called "Reach Out and Touch Someone." Several of the commercials featured college students who called home to talk to their families. Not only was the ad campaign effective overall, it resonated deeply with me, because I was the exact demographic they were featuring.

I found a fascinating video of Chuck Blore, who was responsible for that campaign, on the danoday.com website. The video is just under six minutes long. I think you'll enjoy it:

This commercial jingle came to mind as I reflected yesterday on the experience of exercising with my daughter. She is away at college, but through the wonder of technology, we got to share a 30-minute phone call while we walked/jogged. The tagline for the commercials: When a faraway voice sounds as close as you feel. Yes. She is 350 miles away, but it was like she was right there with me.

I've lived a long way from home for quite a few of my years. I've missed weddings, births and funerals because we were too far away to be there. There were times, though, that we drove huge distances to be there for someone, and those memories are qualitatively different than the ones we acknowledged with a card or gift. I wonder if an actual telephone call is becoming these days what "being there" used to be.

Of course, maybe that's just me. Phone calls these days are often inconvenient to receive, probably because our phones are with us everywhere from the library to the bathroom to the theater to church, and we are so often multi-tasking as well. But as sweet as texting with my daughter is, there's nothing quite like talking to her to feel connected. I think I'll do it more often.

Do you enjoy phone calls? Are they becoming more infrequent for you these days?

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Keep it Scientific, Sweetie (The OTHER KISS Principle)

Stress is always with us.

Fellow blogger, K.G. Heath posted recently about STRESS. KG had three excellent points about changing our attitude and circumstances to address stressful situations. Honestly, I have found significant success in changing my attitude about many stressful situations.

I'm in one situation, however, that continues to elude the peace that comes from attitude adjustments. For this situation, what I sometimes find even more helpful is the hard work of physical exercise and weight lifting.

Exercise and Stress

WebMD's page on exercise indicates that physical exertion creates endorphins in the brain that are proven to trigger a positive feeling in the body. Source after source lists the considerable benefits from exercise, from the "runner's high" that comes from jogging, to the simple changes in attitude that come from the tiniest bit of exercise, even walking into another room. There must be literally hundreds or thousands of books and websites that address the subjects of stress and exercise.

When I went to see my personal trainer, Joe Policastro, this morning at his business StrongFit, I was in an anxious state owing to circumstances I cannot control and seemingly cannot even influence. After lunges, goblet squats, presses, leg raises, and 2000 meters of rowing, I felt much more positive about the situation, even though not one single thing about it had changed. The only thing that had changed was me.

The Benefits of Facts to support Experience

The recent internet discussions about vaccinations are a good example of the fact that FACTS very often do not change peoples' minds. The facts about exercise are often not enough to convince someone to get moving. I think the facts are extra helpful when our experience shows us something like the benefits of exercise and we can then see the scientific why behind those benefits.

Feeling stressed? Work on the attitude, and then give exercise a KISS.

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