Exercise

As a child I was as active as most, no athlete, a bit chunky and almost always picked last.We rarely sat around inside and we always seemed to be getting into something we shouldn’t.We played tag, hide and go seek, kick ball, baseball, football, rode bikes and swam in the community pool.When I was younger there was a pond down the road we could ice skate on until they fenced it off.We played in the creek at the end of our road and were always walking somewhere.As I got older we headed to the Shenandoah or the quarry to swim.I joined the high school ski club one year and learned to ski.We’d go to Great Falls Park and walk the trails.Doing something was always better than doing nothing.I am still no athlete and still a bit chunky but I love to exercise.I know for a fact that I will never be a sexy super model but that’s not why I do it.I do it for me - my mind, body and soul.Aside from the sweating it makes me feel good and the older I get the more I appreciate that my body can still move when called upon.And of course – Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

I went for a walk today.My mind started filling up with all the negativity of the world: high gas prices, high food prices, all the people in need, wars, riots.I had to wonder if there was more bad than good in the world.

A voice inside cried Stop!
Just because the so-called bad things seem to make more noise doesn’t mean there are more of them. Good things can be so quiet they are often over looked.The warmth of the sun on my skin, the blooming flowers, budding trees, birds singing while making their nests, the muscles in my body that propel me down this wondrous trail.