Mind Boggling - Chapter 6

Mind Boggling

By Njeri Mucheru-Oyatta

Feeling the responsibility for creating my life, I decided to change my perspective. In giving, one looks on the outside. I decided to look on the inside to ascertain whether the feel good remedy I was getting from giving also applies in what I do for or to myself. I thought that the good feeling should be something that can be achieved all the time. But for that to happen, one must be feeling good on the inside as well as on the outside.

What better way to see yourself than to look in a mirror. So that’s what I did and then I remembered that I had been postponing my once regular work outs for a long while after my daughter was born blaming it on the tiredness from not getting enough sleep. After a critical assessment of that justification, I found that I was not being honest with myself. Yes, I could not maintain the same hectic routine of a daily workout as I had before but I could spare some time twice a week for a workout.

Working out is a difficult undertaking for those who don’t do it to make a living. The benefits require patience, are not guaranteed, require maintenance and are not financial. Compared to lazing on a couch watching a good movie or action/drama series like 24, Prison Break, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, or even just taking a nap; working out is not appealing. I who says I am suffering from lack of sleep to justify not working out have been up till the wee hours of the morning unable to stop myself from watching Prison Break until the complete season is over! Any of those programs I have listed above were filmed and created by geniuses as far as I am concerned.

The truth of the matter is therefore that I was just being down right lazy. Ironically, the feeling I get from working up a sweat is far much more satisfying than that of taking a nap or lazing on the couch watching television. I resumed my exercise routine at twice a week and have kept it up despite the interrupted sleep. No doubt, every time I work out, I feel refreshed and energized.

My approach to exercise is to completely throw out any rules about what you ‘must’ do. So I don’t work out at a gym or with a personal trainer. If am not getting paid to do it, am not doing more than I feel like. I don’t want any pressure to perform, and I will not make time to pack a bag and go to the gym. It is enough that I have agreed to work out.

I work out at home in a room which I have equipped with some machines. Working out at home means I can do it any time I want and doing it indoors eliminates the excuse of bad weather. I tell myself to take it one step at a time, literally. I mean that even just putting on suitable clothes for a work out is an achievement. Once the clothes are on, taking the walk into the exercise room is another achievement. If I do even just that alone, I am happy with myself. For me, the dressing up and going into the gym room is the most difficult part. Once I have done that, the rest is easy.

After I get in the exercise room, everything I do in there is a bonus point!! I will not allow any pressure; if all I can do is one sit up, so be it. The settings on the machines are at the easiest level. Sounds like I don’t do much huh? It’s not like that really, once I get into the gym room and start off the work out, I really get into it and can do a lot more than I expect of myself. I do enjoy the working out but for some reason, getting myself to do it is difficult.

When I think of working out I immediately feel tired and my brain does a speedy review of the latest events in my life to justify not working out. But when all is said and done, exercise is good for my health, I have an obligation to set a god example for my children and it gives me time to think about my life. I suppose laziness comes naturally, hard work is in reality a punishment. Any excuse not to work and still reap the benefits is a very attractive thing. It’s human nature.