Words From The Sage — Leroy “Satchel” Paige

Have y’all ever noticed that “vacations” can be stressful? Lordy, ours is this week — because it’s a working vacation. Mr. Tucker is moving a shed (sideways, with a fence in the way) and I’ve been moving my office (carrying a good 600 pounds of books upstairs). On a break, I started leafing through a notebook filled with magazine articles that I clipped and saved in 1992. Don’t ask me why I saved them that long. I just have a “paper fetish.” But, it was worth it! I came across an article about stress that spoke to me.

It was from a Better Homes & Gardens magazine and included strategies for calming your jangled nerves. Pretty much, it was the usual stuff you find like:

1. exercise
2. prioritize
3. socialize
4. positive-ize (OK, it was rhyming and I couldn’t help myself)

Anyway, I knew all that stuff already, but it had a delightful list of quotes from Leroy “Satchel” Paige. You know who he was — I don’t even know baseball, and I know who he was. He was one of the all time great pitchers in baseball.

But, he was also a “sage.” He was very wise, as evidenced in this “recipe for health.” Here’s what Satchel Paige said about his philosophy for healthy living:

1. Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
4. Go very lightly on the vices such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain’t restful.
5. Avoid running under pressure at all times.
6. Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.

Pretty smart man, eh? I found two other quotes of his that I liked:

• Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.
• You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.

Maybe it was worth lugging around that ring binder full of magazine articles for seventeen years after all? That’s the good I want to share with you on this Only The Good Friday.
Y’all can leave a comment telling me what is good with you or go write a post and join these other fine bloggers in spreading an optimism virus on the internet. If you write a post, come back and tell me so I can add your name to the list.

RV Poetry; Candid Karina; All My Great, or Not So Great Adventures; Inside Mo’s Mind; Thorne’s World; Down River Drivel; Duward Discussion; Ramblings of an Unstable Mind; Insightful Nana; Newbie Lifeline; Everyday Tarot; West of Mars; Life’s Journey; Round Circle; Barbara’s Travels; Blog of Revelation; Desert Diva; Blogjem

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. Thursday Thirteen #44. Good Luck or Bad Luck?
2. Vacation is Good
3. What’s So Good About Having Cats?
4. Helium.com–It’s A Lot of Hot Air
5. Only The Good Friday

Tagged as: health, Only The Good Friday, stress