I can’t really explain why I need this in my life, but I do. In spite of old-lady issues and punching myself in the nose too many times, I still love it!
This thing I’m referring to is working out, exercising. I feel like I’ve tried it all and can’t seem
to stick with it for many different reasons.
If it’s an hour long class - I don’t have that kind of time. Driving and actually doing it - just takes up
way too much time. Plus, you have to
conform to the class hours – and guess what? They aren’t all day long and
rarely, if ever at a time that is convenient to my schedule. So I tried getting a membership where my son
swims, I thought I was there all the time.
That didn’t work out either. For various reason, I’m not always there and
I have to make up my own workout. Not
motivating enough.
I track my workouts on my phone so I can quickly see how
many times I’ve worked out. Only when I
joined a local boxing type gym was I able to keep it consistent. Very consistent. They are open all the time without any class
times and they always have a trainer on site.
This is very accommodating and appealing.
When I first started, I really dis-liked it. Five of the rounds are mostly boxing, ick, I
thought. I hated that part of it, but I
was at least moving, so I kept going.
But, then as I got more familiar with the moves, a little bit of
familiarity and accomplishment started to creep in. Maybe it’s because my dad was a welter weight
golden glove boxing champ. Or maybe it’s
because it somehow reminds me of gymnastics, that wonderful sport that ended
too soon for me. Or maybe it’s just the
way it makes my body and mind feel. Getting
my frustrations out is motivating in itself, hitting or kicking something as
hard as you can is very cathartic. Or
maybe even the way my insides start to come alive like when I was a kid and playing
outside. While it may seem like I’m
being a bit melodramatic, I’m not, exercising gives you a natural high
difficult to replicate.
“After the workout” is a whole other benefit of working out
regularly. My brain functions better,
that sore feeling I get is one of the best feelings I have, I sleep better, smile
more and I’m nicer. I will turn 54 this year, being at this age and after having
several body parts removed, I can’t control my weight like I used to. I’ve been very frustrated. I’ve needed some help in this area but had no
idea what to do. Luckily, this gym offered
to help in this area too.
I am at an incredibly busy time in my life. I am a wife and mother to two teen age boys
and have a full time job. The tiniest
bit of time is extremely difficult to carve out of my life. But also, at this time in my life, after so
very, very long of not thinking about myself at all, I’m starting to feel like it’s ok to take some time for
me. If I combine the drive time and the
workout time, this means I’m taking about 45 minutes for me, three times a
week. Because I’m getting some nutrition
help as well, I’m in awe on how life changing this little bit of time has
been. My mind, my body, my health, my
smile, my clothes, it’s all being changed for the much better.
I know my Dad would “get a kick out” of me doing this. I
haven’t seen him in almost forty years, but when I walk into that gym, I think
of him and try to mimic what he must have been doing when training. I’m not sure if that’s what keeps me coming
back or everything else, but whatever it is, I don’t care. I’m thankful to have
found something so easy to keep coming back to.
Roy Johnston, my dad, around 1950's
This article appeared in the Courier Tribune "Northland Family" magazine insert, June 7, 2018, serving Liberty, Smithville and Kearney, Missouri.
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