Exercise of the Year

Stepping inside the lobby downstairs this morning, I found myself among a sea of people. Apparently, the elevator was out of service. While most of the people persisted on waiting, a stream of people started to walk towards the door that led to the stairs. Acting on impulse, I made a huge decision to follow that flow.

I covered more than 250 steps to reach the office on the 10th floor; I wasn’t feeling short of breath or anything. So proud of myself!

This got me thinking. If doing exercise is all that important, maybe I should climb the stairs like this every morning. I will pretend the elevator doesn’t work, ever again, or I have to get to the top of the hill to earn a living... All I need is some coaxing and some ass-kicking to myself, like treating a child.

I've never made any New Year Resolution in my life because I never feel ready, mature and responsible enough to undertake decisions that big and serious. Like a child, I only take one day at a time. I fight like a mother to block any evil force, determination included, that would prevent me from full enjoyment of the day. I still claim to be a person of very strong will. That's because the determination would have come from under my skin. It woud have been implanted and incorporated within the solid living of the day. It will be in no way deprive of my entitlement to my day but only set out to protect it.

Now, back to the stair climing, if covering 10 stories didn’t get my heart pumping up enough, maybe I don’t need the exercise after all. I might as well keep walking the subway platform twice a day then. If I can find a shortcut, I won’t even cover that distance from the north end to the south end.

That’s just me in the nutshell.