David Berg
(The Lion Roars!)10/82DFO 1299
1. YOU KNOW THOSE ARTISTS & THOSE PHOTOMEN, THEY'LL HANG OVER THEIR DESKS DAY & NIGHT‚ all scrunched up & their lungs compressed, stomach tied in knots & eyes going blind! You know what Sam Warner did‚ he actually developed tuberculosis! That's why I got so tough about that one-hour get-out every day‚ it's an order!—One to two hours every day in the fresh air, the sunshine & vigorous exercise!
2. AND I WANT YOU TO REMIND THEM, THAT IS REQUIRED! You can call it work time if you want to, but you've gotta do it! Because I know those guys! I know myself! I've got so much work to do I'm always tempted to think, "Well, I'm too busy today!" So what I do, I just consider that I've got to do it, like it or not, busy or not, just regular as clockwork as part of my schedule!
3. COME ABOUT TWO O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON when everybody else is finished swimming, Maria & I just get out there & go to it! Sometimes we take a little walk first to get good & hot so we'll enjoy it, & come back & dive in! I've been doing so much swimming I almost forgot how to walk! I went out for a walk yesterday & got tired in one kilometer when I used to be able to walk four! So we've gotta get back to walkin' again! I'm going to split my exercise from now on‚ like maybe half-an-hour walk & half-an-hour swim to get everything going!
4. SO MAYBE THOSE GUYS CAN GET AN IDEA FROM THAT: Whether they want to jump rope, jog or whatever! I don't think they'll get enough exercise at billiards! It's a little exercise, but it's not even as much as ping–pong! You need to get out in the fresh air & the sunshine & stretch your legs! Don't forget how to walk! You've gotta keep your legs ready for that next run to the airport! Always be prepared! So get that get-out!
5. I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY WHAT'S WRONG WITH SOME OF THESE SICK PEOPLE: They think, "Oh well, Dad's not here, he doesn't know, & besides, I'm busy & he wants me to do this, he wouldn't mind if I stayed in today"—& then it's the next day & then it's a week & a month & they never get out! Gettin' out doesn't mean gettin' into the lap outside hangin' over the trays! It means gettin' outside & hangin' on the trees or whatever! OK?
6. I KNOW THESE DESK PEOPLE, YOU JUST HAVE TO MAKE'M GET OUT! I ought to know! All this inside work is not going to do it, it'll just do you in! You need at least a half-an–hour of vigorous exercise, or two quarter-hours of vigorous exercise, I mean really swimming!
7. YOU OUGHT TO SEE ME WHEN I'M IN THE POOL, I'M CONSTANTLY SWIMMING FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER! Each time I go in I do about 20 round–trip laps, & every other lap is a complete underwater swim from one end of the pool to the other, I mean really swimming! And when I come up, I come up gasping for breath! Then I turn over on my back & swim back to the other end on my back with my face out breathing deeply, because I've gotta breathe deeply in order to catch my breath, & that's what's good for you!—Anything that expands your lungs & makes you breathe deeply & makes you really get in the oxygen & flush out your lungs & get your blood circulating & your muscles active!
8. I'LL TELL YOU, I WOULDN'T HAVE LIVED THIS LONG IF I'D JUST HUNG OVER A DESK ALL THE TIME! We've had a lot of people prone to that sort of thing & you've gotta watch'm! Some people will just dip their toe in the pool a little bit & take a little dip & rinse off & you see'm coming right out! They don't do any active swimming at all, they just kind of slosh around a little bit‚ cool off & that's about all! Well, that's not any get-out or real rigorous exercise!
9. EITHER YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE AN HOUR'S STEADY WALKING, OR A HALF–HOUR VERY VIGOROUS SWIM IN THE POOL! I mean a half-hour! Time yourself!—Or two quarter-hours! Now that's it!! Now you crack the whip & get tough with those people about it! I mean it! If they get out for long walks or long shopping or some other kind of vigorous work or something else that requires a lot of walking & shopping like some of our people do, I give them credit for that. Otherwise if they're only going to confine themselves to the grounds & the swimming pool‚ they'd better do some swimmin'! (Regarding one of the sick boys in a Unit: )
10. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU EVER SEEN HIM SWIMMING IN THE POOL REALLY STROKIN' AWAY FROM ONE END OF THE POOL TO THE OTHER? Somebody else is going to have to take care of the baby & let him do some swimming! You can't just stand around there with a baby! Even with our kids, you have to keep an eye on them every minute & stand right beside'm & watch'm & take care of'm, & that does not do it! You're going to have to get your exercise sometime separate from just standing in the pool with the baby! I mean it!
11. THAT'S ANOTHER THING, IF YOU GET IN THE COLD POOL & JUST STAND AROUND WITH A BABY, YOU CAN REALLY GET CHILLED! I mean it! Then you come out & you don't really get dried off, you don't sun, you get a draught & you catch cold!
12. I WANT TO TELL YOU, YOU CAN CATCH COLDS & FLU & EVEN PNEUMONIA IN THE TROPIX ALMOST AS QUICK AS YOU CAN UP NORTH! And what he has sounds like one or the other to me!—Or TB! Maybe that'll scare you a little bit! We've had it happen! So you'd better get on his case! I mean it!
13. "THE CURSE CAUSELESS COMETH NOT!" (Pr.26:2.) There's some reason for it! Just walkin' to the shops & catching something in the air, I don't think that's sufficient case. It might possibly be somehow the way he got it, but if his resistance were up & his strength were up & he was really in tip-top shape, he wouldn't have caught it!
14. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU KNOWN ME TO CATCH SOME KIND OF CONTAGIOUS DISEASE OR FLU OR EVEN A COLD? Maybe once or twice you can ever remember! And then maybe I had a little cough or something, no high fever, not really sick in bed, maybe a little blowing my nose or something, & that was in the dead of Winter in France with snow on the ground!
15. THERE'S A REASON FOR IT! Now you'd better find out what the reason is & get on those people or you're gonna be running a hospital like you have been recently! I mean it! Why don't you get busy & re-read "Get Out!", all of you!: "Get Out 1"‚ "Get Out 2" & Number 3—GET OUT! I mean it! Or you're going to have a constant clinic!
16. I'M SORRY TO BAWL YOU OUT, BUT YOU'RE THE BOSS & THAT'S THE PROBLEM! As Kennedy said, "It doesn't matter how it happened or who's to blame, I'm to blame because I'm the boss!" So you've gotta keep after those people! You'd better start keeping a scoreboard right up on the bulletin board somewhere where everybody checks in & checks out their get–out every day & says what they did & how long they did it, every day until you get'm in the habit!
17. YOU OUGHT TO GRADE'M ON THAT AS MUCH AS YOU GRADE'M ON THEIR WORK, BECAUSE IT'S ESSENTIAL TO THEIR WORK! They're not going to be able to do their work if they're going to be sick in bed with high fevers & all kinds of things! You're going to be running a hospital instead of a working Unit!
18. YOU'VE GOTTA GET AFTER THEM & GET ON THEIR CASE! Boy, I really have to rake these people in my house over the coals every now & then, I really sock it to'm! You've gotta ride herd on'm or they'll either loaf or they won't get out or all kinds of things! So PTL! ILY! GBAKY & give you wisdom & skill & safety & lots of good outdoor exercise on your get-outs! I mean it! Take a walk, go shopping, walk around the neighbourhood, take a swim, do something to GET OUT!—Amen?