My Dad and brothers are five people in my life who I hold with the greatest admiration. They are men like the warriors of the Old Testament: strong, confident, wise, courageous, energetic, athletic, talented, responsible, enthusiastic... the list goes on. However one of the greatest things I respect and admire in them, is their "get up and go".

I don't know if this is a phrase often used - or at the least, understood - by some of you, so I will give my own definition of it here:

"Get Up and Go" - (n) The keen desire to give your all - physically, spiritually and mentally to any given task or challenge set before you. To not back down or shy away from something that you might fail at. The hunger for a challenge and the enthusiasm for trying something new regardless of the odds. A competitive spirit. The urge to be found useful and to be used to full capacity in any situation you could possible be found useful in. To exhibit strength and vigor in every opportunity for industriousness.

That is a rather lengthy definition, and it probably doesn't even fully encompass the term to my satisfaction. This is a trait I constantly see practiced in the lives of my Dad and brothers. Whether it is a game of ping-pong, an arm wrestle, chopping wood, changing the oil in a car, mending a fence, racing go-karts, football or computer gaming, my brothers give everything their all and hold nothing back. In all this, I place a high regard on their physical strength that allows them to be a blessing to people. If they did not have the get up and go to keep themselves fit and active, could they have helped an elderly couple push their awkwardly parked caravan trailer off a pole in a parking lot? I doubt it.

Having said this, I am not dissing the intellectual world in favor of brutal physical prowess. Not at all. To be educated in different fields is also a blessing, and without people of knowledge in such areas, the conveniences and enlightening truths of the world we live in today would not exist. Yet, often in times I find myself noticing the young men in malls or down the street with earphones in, talking on the phone, texting or using some other such digital device who appear to be so much softer; lacking the luster and vigor I am accustomed to seeing in my brothers. It seems that so much of the get up and go; the keenness, toughness and fervor for life that young men once had has slowly waned and vanished. Has "get up and go" got up and left? Is passive intellectuality and love of technology replacing active practicality and vigorous industriousness?