Keeping Fit – A Superhero Effort

Photo credit (above): Sukanto Debnath | Flickr

Almost a month ago, some friends and I took to the task of weekly jogging sessions. The pact was simple: once a week, every week of an evening of jogging followed by healthy dinners (Subway sandwiches with a blind eye for the Ranch dressing but hey, that’s the reward).

Three weeks in and I am surprised by how enthusiastic I am for each week’s session. Sports have always been somewhat a pain for me. I find jogging, running, swimming, or going to the gym monotonous and thus, agonising. Games like badminton or tennis, I balk at thanks to my lack of hand-eye coordination. For these reasons, keeping fit has been a Herculean task for me.

So imagine my surprise when by week 2 of jogging with friends, I was enthusiastic and hoping no one will change their minds anytime soon. I found that by having additional company, there’s always something to laugh about or something interesting to discuss in between spurts.

I would try and run further because I felt guilty for keeping people back and I had laughter and chit chat to distract me from the annoying stitch in my side. What once used to require seemingly superhero effort has now become almost effortless (not to mention fun!).

The new scheduled activity is just beginning to look permanent on our calendars, but already I’m beginning to wonder what took me so long to do this ‘gather-a-bunch-of-people’ thing.

So if by any chance, you ever find yourself in the same situation of needing a healthier lifestyle but cannot seem to motivate yourself, find a group of friends. Run, kick a football, play skipping ropes, it doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to keep things fun and full of laughter. Where there is joy, even the most tedious tasks will seem achievable and effortless.