My American Creed

Growing up, I was very fortunate to have parents who are concerned about my physical health, how I take care of my body, and what I put into it. Not everyone has that, and it is way more important than some of us may think. In today's age, I believe we need to address this issue at an earlier age. What we consume in our bodies affects us both in the present and the future.. A negative diet can take years off of our lifespan, affects our mood, and how we act, and drastically change our physical appearance. This is not only about a diet though. It's also crucial that we exercise at a least a couple times a week to stay healthy.

My mom, who to this day is on the United States Masters Field Hockey team as a 47 years old, is my main credit to my American Creed. She plays rec. hockey with her friends on Sunday and Mondays, mountain bikes almost everyday, and works out a ton to try and keep a healthy lifestyle and outlook. The great thing about her raising me to be this way is that she was not strict or pushy about any of it. She showed me the positive results in taking care of yourself and that is what inspires me to follow in her footsteps. That being said, we did not have any specific rituals, but she was always harsh about one thing growing up - junk food. She always made sure we were consuming whole, natural foods. She was also very lieneate with the amount of soda we had in the fridge. She would always stress water, water, water! I would say Junot Diaz’s story from the American Creed documentary best connects with my values. He speaks about community action and rising to meet challenges. This connects with my story because it can be a big challenge to change your diet, especially if you don’t start on the best of terms. However, coming together as a community (in my case with my family) and tackling the challenge together makes it easier. For me, this was my family deciding to not buy junk food and soda during our grocery shopping trips, no matter how tempting.

In the future, I hope to follow in my mom's footsteps. I plan on playing field hockey at college, which will definitely be a struggle if I don’t have a healthy, in shape body. After college, I want to play for the US Masters team like my mom. Starting a new diet and exercising can definitely be hard for people, which is why we need to teach this earlier. From the amount of money everyone spends on unhealthy food, to the farmers growing and selling whole grain foods, we can all benefit more from a healthy and stable diet. Actions everyone can take to share the importance of keeping our bodies healthy is branching out on different social media platforms and talking to kids, so they know how to eat right at a young age. Again, it may be hard to start, but once you start seeing results in your physical appearance and mood, you’ll realize what it is all for. We are all given only one body our whole lives, it is vital we take care and love it.