Jack’s Winning Words 4/17/14
“Step by step and the thing is done.”  (Charles Atlas)  I first became acquainted with Charles Atlas through a comic book ad which showed a bully kicking sand on a scrawny 97# weakling.  “You don’t want to be like this!”  For the cost of a 3-cent stamp, Atlas offered a body-building program.  I never tried it, but, as a kid, I did dream.  Muscle development, weight loss, body conditioning…it’s a step by step process.    ;-)  Jack 

FROM JAYDEE IN MINNESOTA:   I SAW THE SAME AD. MAYBE I'M ALIVE TODAY BECAUSE I DIDN'T USE DYNAMIC TENSION. THERES A THEORY THAT SO MANY BASEBALL PITCHERS HAVE TOMMY JOHN SURGERY TODAY BECAUSE OF WEIGHT TRAINING. ALSO FOOTBALL PLAYERS BALLOON IN SIZE AND THEN LATER HAVE HEART AND ORTHOPEDIC PROBLEMS. MODERATION IN ALL THINGS.====JACK:  As I recall, moderation was out the window when you played basketball or touch football.   

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I grew up on eleven acres...mowed three of them every week, had a half acre garden, cut down trees with an axe, trimmed the vineyard, etc....didn't need Charles Atlas stuff...had enuf "workout" stuff to do already.====JACK:  I'll  bet no bully dared kick sand in your face, either.  The mower you used was probably one of those that you pushed, too.

FROM INDY GENIE:  Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow!====JACK:  That's a new one for me.  I've heard it put this way: "Inch by inch...Anything's a cinch."  Both work!

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Back when we were kids, comic books had two recurring ads...one was that Charles Atlas body-builder program, and the other was the Johnson Smith novelty catalog.  If you sent for it, the catalog came in a 5" x 5" format that was about an inch thick, and it was crammed with a thousand or more whimsical objects, novel toys, and practical joke resources.  I believe the company was headquartered in Detroit for quite a while.  The catalog was a kids' source of amusement just to read and imagine the possibilities.====JACK:  I ordered something from one of those books....It was a little stick, about 1/4" long, coated with a special substance.  I put it into one of my dad's cigarettes and watched it explode when he lit it.  II made sure that he put the right end in his mouth.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  Our lives are step by step programs aren't they?  First baby steps, than bigger and bigger steps all through our lives.  It is an ongoing process and we must stop and smell the roses by the wayside.====JACK:  Finally, shuffling steps.  Everything's OK, so long as we're "Stepping in the Light," as the Gospel song goes.

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  AH YES, I ALSO REMEMBER THAT AD IN MANY MAGAZINES PROBABLY CHANGED QUITE A FEW LIVES!  REMINDS ME OF DANNY KAYE SINGING THE "INCHWORM SONG" IN HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON:  "INCHWORM, INCHWORM, MEASURING THE MARIGOLDS, YOU AND YOUR ARITHMATIC WILL PROBABLY GO FAR, INCHWORM, INCHWORM, MEASURING THE MARIGOLDS, SEEMS TO  ME YOU'D STOP AND SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL THEY ARE!" SPRING HAS SPRUNG, LET'S NOT BE TOO BUSY "INCHING" ALONG IN OUR LIFE'S GOALS, TO STOP AND SMELL AND SEE THE FLOWERS!!====JACK:  AA recognizes the importance of step  by step...with their 12-Step program toward recovery.

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  I've been reading books by an amazing author, Marie de Hennezel. "The Warmth of the Heart Prevents Your Body from Rusting." She has a fascinating thesis--that us baby boomers have the best opportunity of any generation. Far from bewailing our gradual loss of faculties and possibly descendence to being completely dependent on others we can start--at any age really-to accept age and lead others counter-culturally away from an obsession with youth and fear of aging. But you don't do this instantaneously but acquire the insight and capability step-by-step. Funny to muse on a possible outcome of our current culture that people have been "let down" by not having sufficient "teachers" to help us become old in a thankful and gracious and loving way.====JACK:  It's my observation that people, in general, don't want to learn how to be old (enjoy aging).  Aging is looked upon as a negative.  Like with McArthur, most just want to fade away...with no pain.  ====SHARON:  Yes, that's the problem. Old age is looked at very negatively. There are actually other cultures which value some qualities that old age can bring, for example more appreciation for interdependence and community. We're sometimes so used to fighting against such things--because we erroneously believe they restrain us or make our lives restricted in negative ways that we can't even imagine there can be joy in "letting go" "living in a different way of trusting and relating." Personally, I would rather live out my end days with a Marie de Hennezel attitude than the attitude you have observed among so many, and I have observed too. I think that, in the USA old age is sad, not because being old is sad but because our fragmented and broken society and institutions lead to more difficult relationships than need be. Maybe I want to be a Pollyanna about it all--

FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  If I recall you send in for information and get a little bit then enroll in a course of paying a few dollars and get a program every few weeks.  Seems I spent a few dollars, still didn’t get the girl, and got beat up.  I do think Atlas (or his friends) were expert marketers. I learned a little.  A little more info:  Here is the scoop on Atlas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Atlas
Here is his ad: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paxtonholley/4531752344/   The Wiki page says still selling as of 2010….!====JACK:  Charles Atlas was originally Angelo Siciliano.  Who would buy body building advice from a guy named Siciliano?  Atlas can lift the world above his head.

FROM TRIHARDER:  "Every long journey ... "  Yes, it's in a lot of processes.  A long trip, a step toward graduation, weight loss, conditioning, building a business, ...  -- very rarely does it happen all at once.====JACK:  Some people can't stand the long wait that it sometimes takes for answered prayer.  "Dear God, give me patience.  And, I want it right now!"