Gaston Rehab Associates, Inc.

Mental Toughness Seminar for Athletes in Gastonia, NC November 3rd and 7th 2009

The Physical Performance Center at Gaston Rehab Associates, Inc. will be hosting a FREE "Mental Toughness" seminar for athletes, parents, and coaches on Tuesday November 3rd, 2009 at 7 pm and then again on Saturday, November 7th at 11 am.

This presentation is designed to provide athletes with strategies to cope with the mental stresses of sport. We will also cover other issues related to exercise and sport psychology designed to better motivate athletes.

To register or for more information, contact Cory Barsness at (704) 864-4424 or E-mail cbarsness@physicalperformancecenter.com.

Gaston Community Healthcare Commission receives Vera S. Robinson Award

The Gaston Community Healthcare Commission received the Vera S. Robinson award at the 2009 Healthy Carolinian's conference held October 8th. The healthcare commission received one of 4 awards presented to those partnerships who have remained certified for 15 years.

Congratulations to everyone involved with the Healthcare Commission over the last 15 years.

Kelsey Harris verbally commits to Elon University

Kelsey Harris, a senior shooting guard at Forestview High School, has verbally committed to play basketball at Elon University. According to team statistics, in Kelsey's junior year she averaged 17.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3.3 steals per game. Kelsey was also named the Female Athlete of the Year last year at Forestview.

Congratulations Kelsey! Keep up the great work and we look forward to the upcoming season.

Taste of Gaston Event

On Thursday September 3rd, 2009 United Way of Gaston County is presenting their 2nd Annual "Taste of Gaston" Kick Off event for their community wide giving campaign.

The event will be held in Downtown Gastonia at Main Ave and Oakland Street and will be held from 4pm to 7pm. This is a free event and will showcase many local restaurants, businesses, have tons of activities and give-aways and much much more.

Gaston Rehab Associates will be on hand and will be giving away a certificate for a month of free training at the Physical Performance Center.

Wedding

My wife and I were recently married (last Friday to be exact) and I was amazed at the number of family and friends that were able to attend. Now, you say that is generally what happens when two people that come from large families get married; but this was an exception.

We got married in Charleston, SC and not a single person, of the 86 in attendance, lives within an hour of Charleston. I can honestly say that this was the largest "destination" wedding that I have ever been a part of or seen. I say this not to brag, but out of sheer amazement of the blessings that my wife and I have.

Rick Warren in his book "The Purpose Driven Life" (http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/) explains how things happen to people, good and bad, so that others can have someone and or something to relate to. He explains that if nothing ever happened to anyone else we would not have anyone to learn from and to be able to relate to it.

I reflected on this explanation as I received many pieces of advice from other folks that were either currently married or were married at some point in time. I am sure we have all heard the many war stories that are told at family gatherings, overheard in passing conversation, or read about in magazines. In general, what I gather is that those with the best stories and the happiest marriages are generally positive people by nature and those with the worst stories have two people that were mismatched from the start or negative by nature.

It is often very easy to ignore the blessings we are graced with and to focus on the negative. We could have focused on the fact that four people told us they would be at the wedding and did not show up at all (no phone call either); we could have focused on the fact that we were so frazzled from running around trying to coordinate 86 guests all from out of town; and we could have focused on the fact that at some points tempers did flare and some feelings were hurt as often is the case when a large family (or two) gets together and too many plans are attempted to get made. Instead though I choose to focus on the good things and will remember this past week as one of the best weeks of my life.

As life passes by if all of my troubles are small ones (as they always are when put in perspective) then I have lived a good life. I wish you and your family the same.