Well, you might have read this online Monday or in the paper Tuesday, but I want to thank you for your continued support of our Salisbury Post. As anything, changes are hard, but to stay strong and move forward, you have to make sacrifices and work hard. It applies to anything in life, doesn’t it?

The Salisbury Post had to make changes to stay strong and move forward. I am so happy to still have a paper. Too many newspapers have gone out of production because people are not buying them anymore.

I don’t know about you, but I like to open the paper and first scan through everything and then read the articles. Sometimes, I am a few days behind depending how busy I have been, but I always enjoy it. As the Salisbury Post is moving forward and making decisions to stay strong, so does it transfer in your healthy lifestyle.

A healthy lifestyle doesn’t miraculously appear. You have to make the right changes and be persistent in what you are doing (and eating) to succeed. Certainly, your genes do have a big role in your health, but a healthy lifestyle is a choice that you have to make.

As my “Esterettes” (anyone who has taken my classes) will tell you, it is your journey. There will always be a journey, but is it the one you want to be on? You might complain that everything hurts, or maybe you can’t do something, but when you see someone with physical limitations, it puts things into perspective. Whenever I see a paraplegic, people with MS, folks in cancer treatment or those with joint replacements working out, it puts joy in my heart. I know their journey will be so much better because of a healthy lifestyle.

Of course, there are “levels” of a healthy lifestyle. Are you going completely on the health-nut path? If it works for you, more power to you, but in my extensive experience in health and fitness (over 35 years) there are not many that can (or want to) hold to such a rigid regimen.

Find what works for you. Be aware of what you eat every day, maybe even count your calories (that opened up my eyes years ago). Start moving, period. Even if it’s a walk around the block or parking farther away when you go shopping, every bit helps.

As I mentioned before, we have beautiful, easy-to-access parks right here in Rowan and surrounding counties. Make the changes necessary to make your journey more memorable. It can only start with you, whether to buy the newspaper to keep it strong, to move and make changes for a healthier lifestyle, to being nice to people.

You will be amazed the return you get with a healthy lifestyle and just being nice. So instead of complaining about it, do something about it because it doesn’t come free.

Ester H. Marsh is health and fitness director of J.F. Hurley Family YMCA and on a journey of her lifetime.