Don't Forget

I think we are hard-wired to know this. Yet with the passage of time (is it REALLY August first today?) it somehow fades from the forefront of our consciousness. It gets demoted to the back burner, like a rookie phenom getting sent back to Triple A for some additional seasoning. We forget. We get lazy and we get sloppy. We succumb to the easy way, that path offering least resistance. To be fair, we are victims of our own societal success. Madison Avenue, mainstream media and our consumer culture expects nothing from us but mindless, instantaneous gratification.  If you see it, you need it, now. Kinda like the guy on the seafood diet. See food - eat food. Same holds true with gadgets, cars, costumes, styles, fads and those quirky paradigms.

We know, yet we forget.

This, in reference to exercise. You remember that. Movement. Elevated heart rate, muscles in motion, blood flow, inertia, power, speed, grace. Hands and eyes coordinated to produce a desired effect. Run, throw, jump. In the good old days of the Paleolithic era, we needed these skills to survive. Not being fast enough to catch that furry little critter meant another dinner of grass and water. When that hungry or scared lioness snarled at you with a mouth watering leer, not being able to unleash some explosive escape power often reduced the tribe population by one.

No wonder we forget. We have everything right here on our desks or in our laps. I see folks all the time at the Safeway giving the appearance that the only exercise they get is pushing the cart down the center aisle. I sometimes play connect the dots, looking from cart to core - all that processed, refined, fat-filled, empty, HFCS, simple carbohydrate, chocolate covered crap goes right there. In deep storage. Sometimes forever. You pay for it twice.

We forget.

I am enthralled with John Douillard's work, Mind, Body and Sport. It rings a note so clear I can hear it resonate for days. Here is another sample, in case you missed the 0530 'sermon from the saddle':

Studying in India, the author asked several Vedic scholars the purpose of exercise. He then lists the (unanimous) top three.

I suggested a few this morning, among them:

Optimal fitness
Good health
Longevity
To get faster
To get stronger
To win Gold Medals
To win Age Group awards
To satisfy ego
To be responsible and stay out of the ER

Please take a moment here to consider your motivation. Why do YOU exercise? What is your purpose for doing all that we do? Or all that you do?

THE THREE GOALS OF EXERCISE

1) To rejuvenate the body and cultivate the mind
2) To remove stress
3) To develop mind-body coordination.

You know this. We are hard wired to understand. It is in your DNA.

I have found that the best way to remember is to do. Preform the acts. Go through the motions. Practice mind-body coordination. And please remember…..

To not forget.