Wear your bathing cap if it helps...

In so many of the conversations I have with people right now, I find that we’re all feeling overwhelmed.  We struggle to sleep.  We are easily distracted and often irritable.  There is too much of everything—disease, distress, ash, heat, noise, laundry.  People tell me that they just can’t.  I hear it.  I feel it.  And yet, somehow we have to cope and do.

 

For some of us, dropping the workout is the obvious way to get a bit more time.  I am not going to blame anybody who makes that choice.  I will, however, tell why that is not my choice, even when I feel like there is too much to bear.  Maybe my experience applies to more than just me; maybe not.

 

I work out for a lot of reasons.  For one, it is wonderful to have something finite that can be checked off the infinite list of things to do.  I show up, I get sweaty, I check it off.  There is no lingering sense of incompletion.  That workout is done forever.  I get to feel an increased sense of my own power because look!  I did one whole thing!  Maybe I can tackle the next thing!

 

Some of the things I do in my workout are plain fun.  I got to go swimming last week (thus the silly photo of little me in my bikini and my grandma’s bathing cap).  I love swimming.  This is a good time to choose the kinds of workout that are joyful rather than the horrible guilt-inducing ones.  Even in these times, it is all right to pick things that make us happy.

 

Speaking of making us happy, cardio exercise boosts mood.  I know I say this all the time, but it bears repeating.  When we have limited energy to spend, we need to choose to spend it on stuff that helps us.  Cardio can be one of those things.  I will never tell anyone to stop taking their antidepressants, but I will say that cardio is an excellent adjunct to medical and therapeutic help.

 

That focus thing?  Working out helps with that, too.  The science shows that our brains work better after exercise.

 

These are my reasons to work out, even when I’m tired, even when the world is full of chaos.  Join me if it seems like working out will help you, too, or rest if you need that more.