Blessing

Last week I got back to swimming.  Every time I go I can’t believe I am not swimming every single day.  And yet, I don’t do it for a very simple reason:  I have to go somewhere to swim.

I am blessed.  I have a whole studio full of weights and Pilates equipment.  I have my very own spin bike and two other bikes.  I have mats and bands and rollers and all kinds of implements of destruction (as Arlo would say).  I also have a dog who compels me to get up before the sun and walk.  There are so many super easy ways for me to exercise that it feels like a whole lot of work to put together a gym bag, get in the car, and swim.

There are (at least) two things to learn from this.  One is that we can make stuff easy on ourselves.  Exercise can be enough work all by itself; getting TO the exercise should be as easy as possible so we don’t waste our precious energy and motivation before we even start.  The second is that sometimes it is worth it to make a little extra effort to do something we really enjoy.  Swimming makes me happy.  Catching a whiff of the shower-surviving chlorine on my skin later in the day gives me a jolt of energy (yes, I am weird like that, but hey, I’m happy!).  I like my morning dog walks, but I really feel like a whole new human after swimming.  That seems worth a little effort, if not every day at least more often.

We can do this.