Maybe the most obvious, if
ignored, part of making fitness fun is choosing activities you enjoy. Please note: not activities that you are necessarily good at, but ones
that make you smile.
I am a terrible swimmer. I’m probably not going to drown any time
soon, but I’m no risk to escape from Alcatraz. The thing is, once I put my body in the water, I feel
fabulous. My favorite aromatherapy
scent is chlorine with a side of suntan lotion. I am not kidding.
My form is doubtless
embarrassing. I can only breathe
on my left side. I splash. I have never attempted a flip
turn. But when I swim, my heart
beats, my muscles work, and I grin inside; grinning outside ends up with
sputtering and is not recommended.
Of course, I can work on my technique and I will. The point is that I will swim more
because I like swimming. If I look
funny doing it, extra bonus points because laughter is good for all of us.
Exercise heals because it treats
body and mind. My body may be
panting and flailing, but my brain feels like I am nine years old and may get
to have grape soda later when I dry off on the hot pavement. (Grape soda, also a favorite
aromatherapy scent, although I can’t actually drink it anymore.)
Go play! Grab friends and play football. Put on your dancing shoes. Play hopscotch. Ride your bike and ring that bike
bell. The only rule is that you
have to have fun.
(The photos are of me when I was
six in 1974 and of my grandma and great grandma in 1961. I was trying to find one of my grandma
in one of her notorious bathing caps, but settled on bathing beauty instead.)
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