Pounding Poverty was pounding the pavement this morning where exercise meets justice at the city of Lexington's annual Freedom March. This was my ninth consecutive year attending the Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., Unity Breakfast along with 1,500 of my closest friends. If you live in Lexington and have never attended these events then you are missing an inspirational tradition that truly honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It was an excellent week, from the Pounding Poverty perspective, with my weekly weigh in showing I lost another 6 pounds. That's a grand total of 19.4 pounds lost since we began this journey! But today is not about me and I want to make sure this blog honors the dignity of this day to celebrate peace, justice and nonviolence. However, I do want to share with great pride that this morning at the Unity Breakfast I was able to walk past the eggs, sausage and bacon to fill my plate with just fruit. I can tell you, since this was my ninth such breakfast, that I had never done that in the past.
This morning's Unity Breakfast celebrated our youth and featured some inspiring words and performances from students in Fayette County Public Schools. Among other things, each year the event includes four speakers who each share their thoughts in the areas of education, spiritualism, civil rights, and humanitarianism all to honor Dr. King's teachings. I was especially struck by these words, from the student who spoke about education: "My teachers open the doors to learning but I am the only one who can enter." That is so true about education but also about other things.
Teachers open doors for us every day and that's also true of our health and nutrition. I have always known what I should eat and that I should exercise. People before me have opened that door by showing or telling me what is right. It was I who chose to ignore that teaching and gained weight and suffered health consequences. I am choosing to walk through that door now and so far it has cost me 19.4 pounds that I am glad to be rid of.
Do something for someone else today and honor Dr. King's legacy of service. Another student shared this morning that, "In order to truly serve others you must be willing to give up a part of yourself." That means giving up your time, money, convenience, comfort or other things that we allow to control our lives. If it doesn't hurt then you haven't done enough. If you have plenty then you haven't given enough. If you are entirely comfortable then someone else is not.
Thank you for reading and supporting Pounding Poverty. I hope this project inspires each of you in some way and today I humbly hope that you are inspired to give back to someone else.
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