Trendy – Passion and Persistence Are Always In Style
Trends, fads and fashions come and go, but passion and persistence are always in style. And you can quote me on that.
Written by John A. Anderson
Quality and substance will always eclipse fleeting fame and temporary trends. But we seem to be a society drenched in the drama of the day, and we are prone towards jumping on bandwagons.
Before I swim too far into the deep end of the philosophy pool, let me clarify that some trends are helpful—even healthful. Much has been accomplished in the name of redirecting negative trends. And, thank goodness for trendy pioneers who create or invent products that result in all manner of improvement. I wouldn’t call electricity a trend, but thank heaven for Ben Franklin’s little kite-flying stunt that seemed to start that ball rolling. From immunizations and vaccinations to seatbelts, Adidas, and even CrossFit, there are many healthcare pioneers who have recognized a need and forged a path in a healthy direction. So, to a certain extent, trends are good—but I wouldn’t say it’s “all good.”
Our eating habits have evolved over time. That’s good. But the evolution is clearly towards the trend of eating out. That’s statistically not good in terms of our waistlines. In fact, if you graph the dining dollars spent over the last 5 decades, you see that Americans spent $43 billion eating out in the 70’s, $120 billion in the 80’s, $239 in the 90’s, $380 billion in the 2000s, and over $683 billion last year. If you want an eerie correlative trend, go google obesity rates in America. Pretty identical. Fortunately, many restaurants are emerging that address this issue, and want to offer tasty, healthy fare—(shout-out and personal plug for CostaVida.com which is one of our health-focused favorites).
In order to start a healthy trend in your own life, you must figure out ‘why’ you want to change, and become focused and passionate towards that end, every day. I love the quote by John Maxwell,
“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
That’s so true. Forget fads and fashions, especially in terms of diet. Focus instead on your day-to-day routine—improving one thing at a time—and you’ll move forward in so many ways. And, one final thought about trends: never let contemporary, popular trends dictate your self-perception. Don’t waste one single day fretting over the comparison between you and the current fads. Attractiveness is truly from within, and in so many ways, you improve with age—flaws and all. All in all, life is about change, growth, learning, relationship development and personal improvement. Now those are trends I believe in.
