Showing Up

Two thousand years ago, people walked most everywhere they went. And, chances are, most places people often found themselves at where places of employment. Maybe it was a farm, a battlefield, a huge ship, a constuction site, or whatever. Way back when, most jobs were physical. They required some degree of manual labor. So people often walked to work, they worked, then they often walked home. The point is, people moved - A LOT. They were probably in great physical shape. They had to be, their lives depended on their bodies' ability to move. 

Todays world is very different for most of us. Many of us drive to work, and when we get there, work is not too physically demanding. We aren't building pyramids, plowing fields, over-taking castles, or sailing the seven seas. We are holding down office chairs, staring into screens, or texting on our hand-held, condensed "world." Many of us are not in great physical shape because we no longer have to be - our lives no longer depend on our ability to move to earn a living. 

But that is the lie, isn't it? Our lives really do depend on our ability to move well, don't they? Think about it, if we can't move well, we simply are not going to enjoy this life we have to live. In fact, if we can't move well, many of us will think this life is not that great to live and we may spend all our time thinking about how "old" we've become, or how much it hurts to move, or how one day we may have to ride around the mega-store on our Easy Rider. 

We need to wake up. We are heading down a path that leads to a very deep pit. A pit so deep it will be hard to climb out of; especially with a soft, large, overweight, sluggish body. Easy Riders don't climb, folks. 

We need to become like our ancestors before us. We need to go to work. We need to move deliberately throughout the day. I'm not saying we should all trade in our jobs for manual labor, but I am saying we should all be deliberate in our attempts to find ways to move. 

Moving is so restorative that it only takes a little bit here and there to overcome much of the damage we create by being sedentary. Two to three ten minute movement sessions splashed in and throughout your day can keep your body mobile, strong and healthy. Think about that: 30 deliberate minutes of moving every day can keep you out of an Easy Rider/Walmart Cart when you are 50 years old. Two to three movement breaks a day can keep you action ready when your 70 or 80 years old too. 

Deliberate moving should become our "new job" because we are no longer forced to move. So, we must force ourselves to move. We must show up day in and day out. We must find ways to move, to play, to explore. We were meant to live well over 100 years of age, with HEALTH and VITALITY. You know it's true, you just have a hard time accepting it because you don't see it actually happening. Instead, you see a great deal of 50 to 60 year olds trading in their legs for motorized shopping carts, or recliners. 

Show up. Every day. Make moving a priority. Go to work.