Exercise: a habit to live for
Barely a week into 2007, New Year?s resolutions made with the best intentions are coming face to face with the harsh reality of old habits that are hard to break.
Friends of mine have variously vowed to: quit smoking, stop drinking, lose ?weight, spend more time with my family, cut up credit cards, exercise more, and so on.
New Year?s resolutions are wonderful expressions of our innate desire to be better than we?ve been, to ?be all we can be,? as the old Army slogan goes.?Alas, they are often much easier to assert than to achieve.?
Take smoking, for example.?Unless you?ve been in a coma or under a rock, you know that smoking is a dirty, disgusting habit, literally one ?to die for.??Yet, millions of Americans continue to suck their faces inside out on ?cancer sticks,? oblivious to the harm they are inflicting on themselves, others and the environment.’
Alcohol consumption also takes a deadly toll, on our highways and in our lives, contributing to broken bones, broken homes and lives of quiet desperation.? Still, alcohol continues to be a part of our popular culture, glamorized in the media and readily available to all, including our children.
Meanwhile, obesity is rampant in the land.?More and more Americans are fatter and fatter.?Fat parents tend to have fat children.?Obesity-related diseases are dire harbingers of misery and death to come.? As with smoking and drinking to excess, we all pay the price for obesity, in increased medical costs, loss of productivity and lives cut short.
Spending more time with the family is a noble goal. However, it all too often flounders like a beached whale on the shores of sheer ambition.?Corporate America has created a new class of workaholics, all chasing the almighty dollar and what it can buy in terms of material possessions.??
Our addiction to conspicuous consumption leads to unprecedented levels of credit card debt, fueled further by financial institutions urging us to incur even more debt. College students, fresh to the experience of easy credit card access, are especially vulnerable.?So are the poor, who are similarly lured by the sirens of instant gratification.
Regular exercise could be the answer to many of the addictions just mentioned. A regular exercise program, tailored to individual needs could help you quit smoking, stop drinking, lose weight, spend quality time with your family, and even avoid those shopping sprees that run up your credit card debt.
The virtues of regular exercise are many.? Regular exercise at any age can improve your physical and emotional well-being.? Regular exercise can enhance both the quality and the quantity of your life.
Regular exercise is no panacea for the problems of our daily lives, but it is a real good start on minimizing or even eliminating their adverse effects. I?m partial to walking and hiking. Others may prefer running or golf. Pick whatever works for you and stick to it. ??
Resolve to exercise regularly, and then do it. A year from now, you?ll be glad you did.
Thomas B. Vaughn is a professor at Motlow College and co-host of the radio show ?Viewpoints,? which airs on WCPI 91.3 FM.