The wife and I were discussing exercise the other night. The fact is, I am ten times more likely to say, I would like to run now or at some specific point in the near future (and she will assent more than 99% of the time) than she is to say I would like to exercise now or attend a yoga class or anything along those lines.
Her time is carefully divided among work, writing, numerous social responsibilities, and the care of two children. But so is mine, and yet I have a need to ask for exercise time that she apparently does not. Does that make me selfish, or am finally (because this was not always the case) accustomed to making this request.
We do not watch TV. I mean, really. We don't. I am stating this as a fact. There are occasional viewings of Phineas and Ferb, and once a month we may watch a movie at home. Yesterday I once again heard the statistic that the average American watches five hours of TV a day. Really? Still? I mean, even now there's YouTube? No, five hours of television.
Surely it is not selfish for me to take 60 minutes every other day (okay, every third day) for physical exercise. And nor should it be for her. I know how I came to this place for me, from non-runner to running person. What she needs is to create this desire in herself.
Temperature: 36°
Climate: cool and overcast
Distance: 4 miles
Heading out, might have been a day for snow. On the final leg down Taylor, the clouds broke and the sun came through. I hope it stays a while.
2004 Playlist
Let's Get It Started [Spike Mix] - The Black Eyed Peas
Call On Me - Eric Prydz
Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day
Neon Human - Felix da Housecat
Chase Me - Hexstatic
Future Sightings - I Am The World Trade Center
Ohh La La - The Ditty Bops
L-L-Love - Astaire
"Awesome Thayer-Hansen! You're late!"
3 comments:
I think there is something about mothers in particular that make it difficult for us to put that time aside for ourselves, and to do it without guilt is darn-near impossible. I guess I could say "parents," but I really think mothers have a guilt/sacrifice gene that often impedes us from doing what is right for ourselves. I read an interview with Michelle Obama where she said that men perceive time for themselves as natural because it allows them to better take care of their families, and that is a lesson she felt she could learn from men. After I read that, I started "assuming" more workout (running) time for myself instead of "asking" for it. My husband has always been totally cool with my hours running anyway.
I'm cool with it, too, as long as dinner is on the table.
Excuses are always there, but I realized a few things that mean I work out every day, in some way. It may just be lunges and pushups, it may be Wii Fit, it may be a run or a walk...but it's every day I'm not seriously ill.
I have to take care of me before I'm able to take care of anyone else.
I have to make time for exercise, and that is my time. I do not ask, but I do work around schedules.
Exercise keeps me healthy, mind and body. Mind even more than body.
I'm a much nicer person when I've had some exercise. My whole family knows this and appreciates that the time I spend doing it is just as good for them as it is for me.
If I don't really watch it, I have a serious tendency towards fat.
Go, beedie, go!
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