By CONNIE NOLEN / Community Columnist

My literary magazine staff left Minneapolis in November after being snowed in for seven hours. Our exhausted flight crew had been on duty much longer. We discovered that our flight attendant, a middle-aged man, was quite the comedian.

Instead of robotic preflight warnings, our flight attendant’s demo included spinning the oxygen mask on his head. That twirling mask lesson has come back to me as the new year begins.

The warning is standard. “Should the cabin lose pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the overhead area. Please place the bag over your own mouth and nose before assisting others.” The idea is that, in order to care for someone else, you must first take care of yourself. While this might seem selfish, being in good health is necessary to have the ability to serve others.

Gold’s Gym in Pelham is giving its members a chance to take care of themselves while also winning prize money.

“The Challenge includes two sessions with trainers who will help members set goals,” said Area Fitness Director Dustin Allen.

“The Gold’s Gym Challenge encourages members to meet fitness goals,” Sales Manager Matt Fulmer said. “There are over $75,000 worth of prizes for the winners.”

Pamela Wynn is the new general manager of Pelham’s Gold’s Gym. Excited about the Challenge and her new position, Wynn said, “Pelham has a very high-energy Gold’s Gym. During the challenge, our members will have their own personal cheerleaders. Our staff will be helping them through the entire 12 weeks.”

“The challenge takes off in three flights of start dates during the month of January and continues for 12 weeks,” Wynn said.

January is usually a busy month for the fitness industry. “At only 10 days into the new year, we’ve signed up over 60 new members,” Fulmer said.

Apologizing to a friend recently for failing to help during a difficult time, I realized that I haven’t been taking very good care of anyone lately — probably because I haven’t been taking very good care of myself. I intended to neglect my own needs to get more done; however, in neglecting myself, I’ve been unable to care for others effectively.

Evidently, the preflight oxygen mask speech contains wisdom. Please join me this year in taking care of yourself so that you can take better care of everyone else.

Connie Nolen can be reached by email at CNolen@Shelbyed.k12.al.us.