Day 17, Reason 17: Exercising is a Perfectly Normal Thing to Do

Like many people of my generation I sometimes struggle to make myself exercise.  We didn't grow up thinking about having to work out; although Jane Fonda was already aerobicizing the ladies of America when I was a kid, I wasn't super aware of it.  My mom took the odd aerobics class, but exercising wasn't something I grew up with, at least not something I saw my parents do regularly.

It's not that we were sedentary.  My dad did go curling regularly, although many would argue it's more of a drinking game than a from of exercise, I've done it and it actually does require some effort.  My brothers played hockey and baseball.  I took dance.  But those things are all different from the concept of exercising for the sake of exercising.  Just doing it because it's a good thing for your body.

Certainly there's nothing wrong with getting your exercise from an activity that you enjoy; in fact, it's probably the better way to go about it.  But for most of us as adults, work and life take the place of activities done for enjoyment, and many of us drop those activities that kept our bodies moving as kids and teens.  It's entirely possible that those who don't drop them are happier than the rest of us in some way.  They're certainly happier that they don't have to force themselves to the gym to run on a treadmill.

To get to the point, anyway, I think it's a good thing that I am raising my kids to believe that exercising is just something people do.  That it's a normal part of my day, something I do to keep my body healthy.  They'll grow up thinking of exercise as a regular activity that hopefully becomes a part of their day as well, and not so much of a struggle that they have to force themselves to work out.  It's part of the reason I choose to exercise at home.  Well, that and I don't like to engage in public sweating.

Day 17, Reason 17: To teach my kids that exercising is a good, normal thing to do.

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