Gerald Fry, My Life as a Sports-Nut #4: Lessons Learned

Gerald Fry

Reflecting on my life in a multitude of sports, I can identify four primary benefits of such an active lifestyle

1. The games themselves (such as golf, squash, basketball) are so much fun. And in playing them, we experience what the U of Chicago psychologist,   Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, calls “flow.”  Because we have to be continually mindful, playing such games is almost like meditation.

Also, in a sport like golf, no one can defend us, and every game of golf is totally different. By the way, I highly recommend the film, “Golf in the Kingdom,” based on the book of the same title by Dr. Michael Murphy, humanist psychologist who founded the Esalen Institute.  He also did a great book, The Future of the Body, which has inspired my sports-oriented life.

2. These activities which get us moving have wonderful benefits for both body and brain. Every Tuesday in the science section of the New York Times, my friend Gretchen Reynolds writes articles about how movement and exercise are so beneficial for our physical and mental health.  Check them out.  They are inspiring.  Also, being really fit helps prevent injuries, a valuable benefit.

3. Sports provide valuable opportunities for us to develop and enhance our social wealth, the most important form of wealth. I have met so many wonderful people through sports.  Such connections can be valuable in terms of future career and professional opportunities. For instance, Betty Ann, whom I met playing tennis recommended me to lead Stanford alumni tours to Southeast Asia.

4. If and when we as older folks have health issues, being super fit helps us to cope with such challenges effectively.

In 2013, I suffered a massive blood hemorrhage of the brain, a subdural hematoma.  While suffering from this condition, I did much effective work in Korea and Thailand while not even knowing I had the condition.  Upon return to the US, I had to have immediate brain surgery and the top of my head removed, but I was out of the hospital after only three days. I think I set the record for the most walking ever done by a patient, which facilitated my quick release.  I ended up with a fresh, totally cleaned brain.  Sports head injuries result in blood being leaked out often.  My brain surgeon kindly informed me that my brain had not decreased in size but had enlarged with age.  What nice news.  Also to deal with horrible posture, for three years I have been continually wearing a special back brace, and as a result have grown two inches; i.e. restored two lost inches.

Also in retrospect, it is interesting to compare my adult life to Ralph Miller, our former East High and Wichita State basketball coach.  As an extraordinarily talented high school and college athlete, he was 1,000 times better than me as an athlete.  But, playing quarterback for KU, he injured his knee. This injury probably prevented him from enjoying the kind of lifestyle I have had.   Perhaps it was good that I was such a failure at sports in high school and college.  I have never suffered a serious injury in playing sports.  One of my close friends here in Minnesota who played in the NFL for four years, has serious brain health issues.

The final question of my story is really important, but I can not answer it.  How and why did I come to lead this kind of sports-oriented lifestyle?  Our East High curriculum certainly was not an influence. Physical Education classes were simply participating in various sports activities.  We never studied about the health benefits of exercise or movement. 

Editor’s Note: For a glimpse into Gerald Fry’s research on reversing the ageing process, click on this link –  Strategies to reverse ageing (nationthailand.com)