Running for Your Life: Never a Workout

Here’s a crazy thought.

Go to the gym, but don’t call it “a workout.”

I mean most folks “work” five days a week, and a majority of them not with passion but a sense of resignation, so why in a sane world would they apply a “work” word to something like going to the gym as part of a daily routine?

Enough “work” already. (That is, if you’re not like me and find that work is not a four-letter word; I do feel blessed that I love my work, both in the office and at home.)

Hmm, I wonder. Perhaps there’s some correlation to all this. Truth is, I’ve been running every other day for 40-plus years, and either stretching, Tai Chi or calisthenics the other day for about 15 years, and never have I referred to all this time as a “workout.”

Rather, I go for a run. Which my wife, M, knows is essential for me to both physically test myself and to sink into meditation, rethink a writing project, get the shape of my next blog post.

As a longtime writer and editor, I know there is power in words. A “workout” doesn’t sound like fun. Rather a stern obligation.

For goodness sakes, take some pressure off. It’s not work. It may even be fun. And when was the last time you heard someone say they had a “fun workout?”

Next: Running for Your Life: CURLING 2018!


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