I sometimes ponder the random sequence of events in life.  It seems that when you are in the flow and open to opportunities, chance events occur with one thing leading to another.  This is exactly what happened when I signed up for financial planning workshops a few months ago.  I had no idea that I would be participating in a physical fitness assessment as a result of this.  Staying open to the flow makes life very interesting and brings an air of adventure as well.  This reminds me of one of my favourite storybook characters from childhood – Curious George, the ever inquisitive little monkey who mastered the art of adventure!

As I stood waiting for my fitness assessment to begin, I surveyed the many different types of apparatus surrounding me.  One in particular intrigued me, as I am sure it would have intrigued Curious George.  It looked like an elaborate bathroom scale with metal plates and retractable handles.  This machine was going to be my very first test.  I was asked to remove my shoes and socks and step onto the metal plates while taking hold of the handles.  I envisioned a surge of electrical energy channelling through my body as the machine was turned on and braced myself for it, but thankfully there was no sensation, not even the slightest buzz.  The only shock I felt was from stepping onto the cold metal plates with my bare soles.  The machine flashed a series of numbers revealing not only my weight, but also the percentages of my body fat and water, muscle and bone mass.  I took a deep breath as I stepped off of the scale, feeling like I had just completed my first test for the next mission in space.  T-minus 10 and counting.  I mentally prepared myself for the results.

You will be glad to know that I almost qualify for a launch into the stratosphere!  The scale alone did not reveal this but further tests involving my flexibility and endurance levels led to this conclusion.  As it turns out, I am in a healthy range for most everything except for my torso strength and arm flexibility.  This means I have to work on my abdominal and back muscles and that I cannot juggle bananas behind my back!  “Lucky George”, I think to myself.  Not only does he have limber limbs to juggle bananas and swing between trees, he also has a firm and fit torso.  There is no tree that I wish to train from at this time in my life but I think the inventors of monkey bars and jungle gyms had a brilliant idea when they created them for children.  Could it be that monkeys are the foremost scientist of our world?  I wonder what advice Curious George would give me for managing my finances.  Perhaps he would suggest that I make paper boats out of all of my bank statements and watch them float down a river!