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One spring evening as I just finished teaching gymnastics to a class of 8 year olds, I found myself standing close to one of the parents of the young gymnasts. Often when I had the opportunity to speak with the parents I would do so.

This time was different. The middle-aged man who stood before me was a pathology professor at Bowman Gray School of Medicine. He smiled as I did, and we talked while the gymnasts enjoyed the freedom to play.

In less than several minutes of conversation he asked about what I did at the university. I told him that I was an exercise physiology teacher, and that I also worked with heart patients in a cardiac rehab program.

After a few exchange of words such as "preventing heart disease by lowering serum cholesterol" the professor suggested that perhaps the relationship between the two might be more complicated. I walked away a bit frustrated. As an exercise physiologist, I never questioned my teachers, books that I had read, and the countless presentations how heart disease is preventable. It seemed foolish if not dishonorable to believe otherwise.

Little did I know that my understanding and beliefs about heart disease would change forever. After careful analysis of the literature, I came to the conclusion that my earlier views were too simplistic.

The Ability to See the Unobvious
Since that particular day in the Wake Forest University gymnastics room, I have tried to think creatively. I now understand more than ever the importance of insight; the ability to see the unobserved. I still make mental mistakes and, yes, I still fail to see the unseen but not as often. I try not to be so busy doing what others think that I'm not thinking for myself. As a result, I have been more successful in not overlooking obvious opportunities.

The chance meeting with the pathologist caused me to the undiscovered the meaning of critical thinking and the power within each of us to see and understand the commonly unseen. It is the ability to see what others have failed to see or to discover what others have ignored. Thinking critically is a struggle to learn the truth and, thus to gain control over and justification for our beliefs.

As I ponder these points, several questions come to mind. "What is an exercise physiologist?" "What does the future hold for exercise physiologists?" I used to have the impression that we were sports medicine! I didn't know better because my educational process didn't examine the differences between the two. Hence, for many years, I went through my professional days as thoughtfully as the next person but equally as lost.

I had no insight or vision to permit myself to be something extraordinary. I had never actually known what it meant to think and exist among good companions with similar professional talent. I found myself thinking about what I had missed and the circumstances that had lead me to discover the meaning of professionalism.

Trying to Understand Professionalism
I could not escape the fact that during my entire graduate degree-program my professors had not mentioned or discussed in any fashion whatsoever the profession of exercise physiology. I can only assume that at the time I had considered my studies and future work in the field as something of a profession. It was not until years later that I learned that academic exercise physiologists never taught or discussed professionalism.

Talk about a special category of academic development! Graduate degrees in exercise physiology available throughout the United States without a professional association to support it. The impression that academic exercise physiologists were in control past with a glimpse of reality. No one was thinking about professionalism, and no solutions were being discussed in lessening the frustration of the graduates in getting good paying jobs with respect.

So I asked myself "How can we professionalize our work?" Or could we? A rough idea of the dilemma faced by graduates from exercise physiology programs caused me to think the unworkable had to be changed. Whether we liked it or not, we had to develop an understanding of the importance of the professionalization of exercise physiology. There was simply too much of a gap between what we professed and what we witnessed.

If we truly lived the words of academic professionalism, what would actually happen if we turned our energy towards developing a professional organization? As a Society of exercise physiologists, a literal adherence to the moral support of our graduates is more likely than without it. At any rate, there came a day when something told me that I could share my thoughts of developing the American Society of Exercise Physiologists (ASEP) with other exercise physiologists without seeming either presumptuous or naive.

The ASEP Quest Impelled by an Ideal
Why yet another organization? How can you justify an exercise physiology society when you have a college of sports medicine and exercise science? In simple words, "It is wrong. There is not need for yet another organization!" But, was it wrong, this quest for professional recognition? No, nothing worth-while is ever wrong or easy. Was it realizable? Yes, but nothing ever idealistic is achieved without hard work and dedication. It is a matter of faith in the unseen, and at best a matter of insight.

The process of transforming exercise physiologists from technicians to professionals requires an understanding of the endless struggle to stop the earlier myth and deception of professional status. When in trouble, which is entirely the correct analysis when graduates can not locate jobs to pay bills and support a family, someone has to speak up. It has become the challenge and the motivation of the members of the Society to empower its members through professionalization.

They are devoting time, money, and energy in seemingly a disharmonious relationship with sports medicine to cause other exercise physiologists to find insight, direction, and a way to see the commonly unseen. This is quite an insight and objective to create. The circumstances by which thoughts unfold and allow for unlimited possibilities require nurturing the unseen!

To visualize an organization of united exercise physiologists when apparently there is only darkness in the minds of some is troubly. Faith, however, crowds out the fear and the hint of the impossible. The ASEP vision is reality, and for that which the members see is that which unalterably will come true.

Is it possible, some wonder? But of course it is possible. It is already reality. The Society doesn't have to try too hard, not now. The reflection, rhythm, and oneness with exercise physiologists worldwide are obvious. In time, most exercise physiologists will commit to the Society and partner with the unseen to will their purpose on the public. It is then that the impulse within us which urges us on will empower us to build an even more intricate professional apparatus to support exercise physiology graduates.

The Spirit Behind Castle-Building
The spirit behind awarenes is never destroyed. It lasts long after the castles are built. It sustains the kind of world we would like to have. It teaches us how to live, how to help others, and how to assimilate thoughts in stride with our dreams. The spirit allows for and encourages, as G.B. Shaw once said, "...see things as they are and ask why. Others dream of things that never were and ask why not?"

Who knows what is possible as exercise physiologists come together? Most certainly, the dream is unfolding. For one thing, just as we see what we wish to see, we can create the future. No one can interfere with our thinking, as we have control over our perception. Our cause inspires. It gives us the right to be heard.

Something says to me: If you are content with the presence situation, you cannot learn from those who are guided by discontent. To be frank though, there is no mystery. The inner whispering of "Self" -- intuition -- allows us to draw closer to ourselves and less so with those who fail to understand. In the end, the thing that sports medicine fears the most has come upon them. I have experienced the truth of this demonstrated in the membership of ASEP.