Recently a group of my friends and I were sitting around relaxing after a full afternoon of sheer gluttony. You know, an all day marathon of barbeque with friends. Burgers and chicken and bbq ribs and potato salad and ice cream followed by more ribs and baked beans, etc, etc. It was right about the time we were all starting to think about grabbing just one more burger for the road when our oldest friend Roscoe said to the group collectively, "You can eat all that you want to and still stay healthy. Why look at me, I'm 50 years young and I'm in great shape. All it takes is 30 minutes a day to keep to keep my doctor away".

Indeed, Roscoe we all agreed was seemingly in pretty good physical shape. As we quizzed him as to his secret, he explained how all it took was a 30 minute walk every afternoon. Not only did the ritual walk into the jungle bush surrounding his house allow Roscoe to eat as he pleased, it also helped keep him keep his weight in proper check.

But then Sally the real fitness junky in Roscoe's crowd spoke up saying, "Walking is really better for you than jogging. Why look at marathon running legend Bill Rogers. Why he won 'the Boston marathon' and ran every day of his life thereafter until one day he had a massive heart attack and died on the spot."

Roscoe then went on to explain that it was his personal physician Dr. Wiley that had convinced him to not only stop running the avid six miles a day he was holding himself personally accountable to but to also stop smoking; to limit his alcohol intake to only on weekends; to watch what he ate, cutting out the cheeseburgers and especially the French fries with mayonnaise after six o’clock in the evening.

To compliment the listed life course changes, Roscoe's doctor stressed overall the importance of stepping out of the rat race each and every day to afford one's self the time to slow down and see the world. As Dr. Wiley put it to Roscoe, "by simply taking a 30 minute leisurely walk each day, despite our longstanding friendship, 30 minutes a day will surly keep this doctor away".

As I guess my old friend Roscoe learned long ago from the kind doctor, whether we care or not, in the end, health really does matter.