It all starts with the way you’re thinking. Repeat that: It all starts with the way your thinking. How do you think about your own health and fitness? Do you have the personal energy you want to get you through each day with vim and vigor? Do you have energy left over for more at the end of the day? Or are you just worn out from whatever? Do you feel the stress of the day as if it were a burden, or do you let the stress of the day flow past you as the day ends?
Are you a participant in life, or are you a watcher of life? Do you like to do things or watch things, or both. Do you enjoy exercise, do you enjoy the energized feeling you get when you exercise? Do you dislike exercise? If you don’t like exercise, why don’t you? In short, what is your attitude about health and fitness?
It’s really the attitude that counts. Do you like feeling really good as you age? Is it worth it to follow the principles of good health so you can feel really good, or is it too much of a hassle.Do you take the time to move yourself – you would rather watch someone else do it.
Different people like different things. Some like Yoga. Some like Pilates. Some like bodybuilding. Some like running. Some like calisthenics. Some like attending formal “boot camp” style programs. Some like classes at the gym. Some like to exercise in their living room. Some like to plop on the couch and watch TV. Some like to exercise with weights. Some like to exercise by lifting their forks and spoons. We are all different. We all have different preferences. One size does not fit all.
Except . . . that if we don’t move our bodies the way nature intended, we will deteriorate. Our muscles will soften and atrophy. Our blood will pool and stagnate. Our breathing will get shallow. Our joints and hinges will get rusty and creak and weaken, our bones will get brittle and break, and all sorts of other bad things will happen to our bodies. We will get old before our time.
Our insides won’t function well and our systems will clog up. If we don’t fuel our bodies with the high octane fuel that nature intended for our bodies, such as air, water, good food and sunshine, we will become more susceptible to chronic illness, pain and lack of the material needed to regenerate our basic cellular structure, let alone our major body systems. If we don’t get the kind of rest and sleep that nature intended for our bodies, we will reduce our mental capacities and will not recover as well as we should from not only exercise, but from the normal stresses of daily life.
And if we don’t have a good mind-set or attitude about our own health and fitness, nothing on earth will move us to move.
Doctors don’t do these things for us. Insurance companies don’t do this for us. We have to exercise, eat right and get the rest we need for ourselves. It’s called “Self-Care” and it’s more important than health care and sick care combined.
Thank you for reading.