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FEATURE FOR
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2003
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Nina Smothers - Secrets of Living |
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 Nina
Smothers may look 36, but she's a healthy 52 years old.
She's kept her youthful vigor through simple discoveries
regarding planning and prioritization of the many roles
she plays in life, giving special emphasis to health,
family, career and God.
Fresh from pharmacy school, with just a year of
experience under her belt as relief pharmacist at three
locations the previous year, Nina came to Huntingdon in
1975 to establish a pharmacy department at the old
Carroll County General Hospital. She had graduated with
honors from the University of Tennessee Center for
Health Sciences in Memphis after attending UTM for her
pre-pharmacy studies.
She was health conscious at an early age, her astute eye
noting the effects an unhealthy lifestyle played in the
quality of life for others. She worked hard helping out
on the family farm in Lauderdale County.
"I fenced with my Daddy and chased cows," she says
wryly, recalling dangerous episodes when she would hold
new calves while he roped their mothers, including one
in which the calf, stronger than most, drug her down a
hill, injuring her knee.
At the time, she was a member of the Halls High School
basketball team, where she had discovered the benefits
of running.
"I loved basketball," says Nina, whose quick mind had
made note during practice sessions that, while she was
not the fastest runner on the team, neither was she the
slowest. That was important because at the end of
practice the player coming in first during sprints
earned an early dismissal.
"About two people were faster than me," she says with a
mischievous grin. She learned to outpace the girls by
holding back earlier and pouring on the steam during
sprints. She continued running for many years after high
school during which she established herself in her
career, met husband David and had three children: Nathan
(now 26, he works with the family-owned Huntingdon
Insurance Agency), Anna Kathryn (at 23, she's a junior
nursing student at UTM) and Jack (17 and a senior at
Huntingdon High School).
"I hung onto that 'til I was probably 38," she says,
explaining running is a solitary sport, and that it
became harder with three children to look after.
Besides, she had a neighbor who "was into walking", a
sport that lends itself to friendship.
Nina and her "steady walking partner" were joined
recently by another friend, plus, from time to time,
others whose participation is more sporadic.
"We walk three miles every morning at 5:00 a.m.," she
says with hardly a groan. "The alarm goes off at 4:52; I
hit the backdoor, check the temperature and go."
The underlying secret to what seems to be an easy
commitment, Nina reveals, is accountability: "There's
somebody out there in the dark waiting on you, that's
the key to it, you've got to be accountable." Otherwise,
she explains, it's easy when the alarm goes off to say,
"It can wait until tomorrow."
The morning walk actually provides many pluses to the
start of Nina's day. It's the one time she has for
herself, she says, when she and her friends can talk
about recipes and current events while at the same time
strengthening their muscles and hearts and building
bones to offset the possibility of osteoporosis. And
it's just the beginning of Nina's fastidiously fit style
of living.
"We have a wonderful, wonderful HealthPlex here," she
shares, speaking from her office and referring to the
Baptist Memorial Hospital's HealthPlex Fitness Center
located in a separate building on hospital grounds.
Other local health and fitness facilities include
McKenzie Regional Hospital's Wellness Center and King
Dominion's Gym in McKenzie.
Nina visits the HealthPlex three times a week for
aerobics - Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday
mornings - and Monday's and Friday's at noon for a "20
minute ab (abdominal) thing."
"I just love that," she declares.
She sings the praises of HealthPlex Director LeAnna
Hatchett, a fitness buff who nevertheless understands
the hurdles faced by others, having overcome her own
physical disability following a devastating automobile
accident to regain her strength and health. LeAnna is a
fitness and nutrition specialist certified through AFFA.
She holds a personal trainer certification through the
American College of Sports and Medicine and various
group fitness certification through ACE including
aerobics, yoga and kickboxing, and is a former Marine.
"I would highly recommend (readers) make an appointment
with her," Nina encourages, "She will talk to you about
your life and design a program specifically to your
needs with goals and objectives that will help you. It's
so wonderful here and it is the ticket to a better life
for a very small fee."
To those who object that time and responsibility hinders
their ability to fit exercise into their busy schedules,
Nina counters that "all things will kind of fall into
place" with proper prioritization. "If I get to a point
here where I am not finished and something has got to be
turned in tomorrow, I stop what I'm doing, go do that
(exercise) and then come back and finish my work. You
just have to make up the rules and the rule you're going
to deal with is you make the time, that's just the name
of the game."
Now Administrative Director of Radiology, Respiratory
Therapy and Laboratory as well as Safety and Compliance
Officer in addition to her primary role as Director of
Pharmacy, Nina makes administrative rounds once a week,
talking with patients about their treatments and
ensuring they are satisfied with the service provided at
Baptist.
When a patient recently complained the squash he had
been served was not fried, Nina was flabbergasted. "It
was incomprehensible to him that he could eat squash
that wasn't fried, and that was the basic root cause for
him being here," she says, realizing the importance of
educating patients and others about choices. "When you
look at Carroll County, I don't only think - I know -
what we're working with; we're working with diabetes,
hypertension, cardiac disease and some cancers."
She outlines the transition that began largely around
the early to mid-1950's, with a shift from the
physically demanding agrarian lifestyle to the factory
and now to a largely sedentary service economy.
"If people would become health and exercise conscious,
they probably wouldn't get into troublesome diseases
that can alter their physical health and would have
better mental health too, enabling them to face sadness,
tribulation or whatever there is to face us" with
greater effectiveness.
She cites with dismay the prevalence of substance abuse
- alcohol, tobacco, and drugs - in the area. "Why? Why
is that happening in our local, rural community?" she
asks, aghast. She promotes "using exercise" rather than
chemical substances, touting the natural endorphins that
are produced during exercise.
"But people don't want to hear that," she asserts, "They
want the lazy answer - a pill they can take or 'give me
a shot and send me on my way.' I don't think life meant
to be that way. In our professional or personal lives
it's the same principle - it's a journey we have to work
at in every facet if we want to be the best we can be,
and that doesn't mean it's always going to seem fair and
equitable either."
The Columbia Encyclopedia defines endorphins as
"neurotransmitters found in the brain that have
pain-relieving properties similar to morphine... Besides
behaving as a pain regulator, endorphins are also
thought to be connected to physiological processes
including euphoric feelings, appetite modulation, and
the release of sex hormones. Prolonged, continuous
exercise contributes to an increased production and
release of endorphins, resulting in a sense of euphoria
that has been popularly labeled 'runner's high.'"
Eating healthy doesn't have to be boring, either; in
fact, Nina loves to cook and says, "If I collect
anything it's cookbooks. I love cooking and recipes."
With her busy lifestyle, like others, she counsels, "If
you don't have a lot of hours you've got to have a
plan." She takes time, generally on Thursdays, to write
the menu for the following week, being sure to ask
family members for suggestions and ideas. She plans for
at least one "vegetable night" each week and has
recently discovered tilapia, the farm-raised fish now
readily available in stores that is tasty and "cooks
real quick".
Her grocery list is developed with reference to the
week's menu, added to the running list magneted to the
refrigerator. "When you use something up, write it
down," she advises. "It increases your efficiency."
While eliminating the problem of searching the kitchen
for something to prepare for dinner, the plan also
allows flexibility and gets easier as time goes back as
a stack of menus are accumulated for easy reference.
Most importantly, Nina notes, it keeps the family eating
"healthy and properly".
Success in her career is important to Nina, who ten
years ago attained her master's degree in business
administration through a University of Dallas satellite
program, graduating with a 4.0 average. Concerning her
work at the hospital, she admits, "Lots of nights I come
back here and work to keep abreast of where I need to
be."
But Friday nights she and David go two-stepping, a happy
pastime with built-in exercise she discovered after
David persuaded her to join him last year. The two took
dance classes locally, learning the cha-cha, waltz,
two-step, five-step and Nina's favorite - the
schottische. "It's a time when I can forget about
everything," she smiles.
Non-drinking establishments offering country dancing
include the 641 Music Barn in Camden on Friday Nights,
located on Highway 641 one half mile from the Highway 70
intersection and The Barn at Trezevant on Saturday
nights, both from 7:30 until 11:00 p.m. Dance classes
are held at the Henry Civic Center on Thursday evenings
from 7:00 until 10:00 p.m.
She is proud of the accomplishments the hospital has
achieved under her direction, including the 1996 State
award for Innovative Pharmacy Practice for hospitals
with less than 100 beds, awarded by the Tennessee
Society of Health System Pharmacists Association.
Nina was a member of the Huntingdon Business and
Professional Women's Club a number of years early in her
career, serving as vice-president and president before
being selected as young careerist in 1978. She was
chosen Woman of the Year in 1981 as well as being named
"Whose Who in the South" the same year.
Her professional affiliations include American Society
of Hospital Pharmacists, Tennessee Pharmacists
Association, West Tennessee Society of Hospital
Pharmacists, and Tennessee Society of Health System
Pharmacists, in which she served in numerous capacities
over some two decades including president in 2001 and
was selected as Pharmacist of the Year in 2002.
Also in 2002, she was selected as the first recipient of
Baptist Memorial Hospital's new Distinguished Service
Award. As a part of the selection process, letters
exemplifying her fitness for the award were submitted to
the selection committee, one of which was authored by
her older son and signed by all three children.
"There are lots of things we go through as a parent,"
Nina shares, "At the moment I read that letter it was
all worth it."
With obvious pride, Nathan had written, "There are so
many roles that a mother should play in a child's life.
Just with everything else in her life, our mom took this
to a whole new level."
He listed in anachronistic form "just a few of the
countless hats she has worn" as a mother - friend,
advisor, Christian, instructor, love, inspiration,
trainer, academics, tutor, order, and rock - to spell
facilitator. In glowing terms he expounded on each
description, later stating, "Our mom is what every
parent should strive to be. She laughs when we laugh,
cries when we cry, hurts when we hurt and rejoices when
we conquer, while all the time continuing to facilitate
each of our individual ascents through life."
Nina is active in the Huntingdon United Methodist
Church's MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship), a group in
which each of her children has also taken an active
role.
"We do all sorts of things," she says, recounting a
shut-in program in which food and snacks are delivered
on holidays to those unable to leave their homes, as
well as musical programs and other means of spiritual
development. "We play together too, going places and
doing things."
She recently shared a poem with a church fellowship
group, entitled "Secret to Happiness" that rounds out
her philosophy of healthy living:
The secret to happiness and well-being is no mystery.
All it takes is the ability to do the following:
Forget.
Apologize.
Admit errors.
Avoid mistakes.
Listen to advice.
Keep your temper.
Shoulder the blame.
Make the best of things.
Maintain high standards.
Think first and act accordingly.
Put the needs of others before your own.
Forgive.
"It all boils down to building a spiritual rope," Nina
says, "Strengthen your faith for what life has to offer
and you can face life in the way God has prepared you to
face it with dignity to manage it no matter what it is." |
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2003
Feature
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2002
Feature
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2001
Feature
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or
Fax (731) 352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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