My "Fight" Against Arthritis!: Week 18: Excellence!

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.

We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle

Countdown 12 Days

"Picturing" myself on The Great Wall

“No man ever reached excellence in any one art or profession without having passed through the slow and painful process of study and preparation” - Horace

In November 2010, I saw the advertisement for this wonderful opportunity presented by The Arthritis Society. I thought to myself...I can help make a difference while pursuing my passion for health and fitness. I knew this task was not going to be easy but I was ready to put my mind, body, and spirit into challenging myself and helping millions of Canadians.

*My"Fight Against Arthritis" has been featured in SNAP Newspaper*. Click Here!

I came across many speed bumps and detours along the way. My biggest challenge of all was fundraising. How was I going to raise nearly $8,000? I was shy at first and didn't know how to approach people and what their responses would be? I kept reminding myself that "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm" (Winston Churchill). All I knew was that I believed in fighting for a good cause.


Elise treating an Arthritic patient

I am very thankful for the positive responses from people and their support to achieve my dream! They helped make all my road blocks fade away and strengthen my journey!

"Life is a journey, not a destination" - Steven Tyler.

Being a member of the Joints In Motion Training Team has truly been a journey. I have learned more about Arthritis, the importance of giving and how to prepare for The Great Wall Marathon. When I signed up, I did not know what I was going to be faced with. Just as the quote states above it was a "slow and painful process of study and preparation!"

"I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost


In Chinatown - Chinese Souvlaki

Count down! One week to go before I depart for Beijing. I pretended to be a tourist in my own city and explored Chinatown! The streets smelled like fish, covered in red and yellow banners and plenty of Chinese people.

I saw this food stand and had no clue what kind of souvlaki it sold until I read their business card...it was lamb. From looking at this stand the only information I could understand were the numbers. The year this Chinese souvlaki may have been invented (1661) and a phone number with out the English name of the stand. Maybe I should start learning Chinese? : )

Thankfully they had an array of pictures to choose from!