Several years ago I was flipping around the channels, looking for some worthwhile television and I stumbled upon the timeless 90's comedy, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Now I know there are some of you, who are gonna say, "Oh, I hate Jim Carrey...he's so annoying!" And while I admit that I detest some of his attempts at more serious films, I have to say you're out of your mind if you can't appreciate his early work, from In living Color, on up through the Pet Detective flicks and Dumb and Dumber. When it comes to stupid humor and an actor really immersing himself into the comedic role, the man has few equals.
So I'm only a few minutes into the movie, when the above scene takes place, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud as if it were the very first time I viewed the film. Not only does Jim incorporate a spot-on parody of the freaky medium lady from Poltergeist, justifying copius laughter, but given the perspective through my work as 'Dr. Drill,' I very clearly saw potential for the phrase, "Exercise" the Demon in the capacity of a play-on-words - it's an appropriate pun, as I will explain.
For those with their heads in the sand, in the movie Poltergeist, the spiritual medium Tangina Barrons was brought in by parapsychologists to help get to the bottom of the frightful occurences in the Freeling house. She had an ability to communicate with the other side, and she would soon discover that there were spirits floating about the house, some of which were good and others bad. Her ultimate mission was to rid this family's house of ghosts, to "exorcise the demons." Well, it didn't look good for the Freelings for a while, as all ghostly hell breaks loose and their young daughter, Carol Anne, was sucked through the tv into another dimension. But after enduring a very tough time and with help from Tangina, the their "heyowse was cleeyah."
Let's face it, there are different types of demons, folks. Without dragging religion into this, if you are one who believes in all that is written about heaven and hell...or if you believe in paranormal activity...ghosts, spirits and apparitions - well, then you surely can conceptualize a certain type of 'demon.' This demon is scary no doubt, but for the purposes of this blog, I'm thinking of a more secular, generic variety.
We all "deal with our demons" from time to time. They range from bad habits to addictions to problems in the present and feelings of guilt for our past mistakes. The problem as I see it, is that regardless of the caliber of demon we're facing, the norm is for people to suppress the issue temporarily, which of course provides no long term fix. We screw ourselves in this way - the demons remain.
Fighting Back
I am happy to announce that I have discovered a solution to the above problem, which I term "Exercising" the Demon. It is what it is...the program which I lead is a regimen for physical and often mental betterment. It helps us solve our problems through the discipline of showing up early, working very hard in the dirt and functioning as part of a team. I can site example after example of individuals joining the Dr. Drill Instructor Program in efforts to lose a few pounds but finding that other benefits would prove to be more precious. In my time as Dr. Drill, I have seen the weak become strong, the meek become bold, the inconfident brimming with pride, the untrusting and skeptical become more open to the situations and people of this world.
Our discipline is rigorous physical training - PT, that is good for you and good for me, dammit! And with each four-count repetition, with each run to cadence and every stinking sound off, there is a corresponding affirmation - a cognition that exclaims, "I CAN, I WILL." Then you follow through. Consider the story, The Little Train That Could...the impact of a children's book, which merely asks us to believe in ourselves...to make that affirmation and follow through with action. All this is a very capable weapon to stash in our armamentariums, take all the trashy novels off the shelf and dust of the jacket of this priceless work of non-fiction.
Exercise: disciplined physical activity, preferably outdoors and never alone
The martial artist: victory attained with each punch, kick, block, throw or sweep. Bow to your sensei and your opponent as you step onto the mat
The boxer: the discipline of footwork, timing on the speed bag and jump rope, respect among opponents
Meditation: balance your body and mind, success with each repiratory cycle and click of the metronome
The reader: Knowledge is power, but practical application is where the rubber meets the road
Fellowship: Be dependable. Be good to your fellow human beings. Foster community...give to it and take from it, but never too much of either. Bad people = turds. Turds get flushed!
These are only a few examples of how we may purge ourselves of our demons but there are countless other ways to solve mental problems through physical means and vice versa. So if you find yourself in a rut, forever dealing with the same demons, to no avail, try exercising the demon. Learn to look your problems squarely in the eye, chew up those demons and take large demon dumps.
