Find Your Niche

We are going to talk about physical activity today, otherwise known as exercise.

You knew it was coming.  It had to.  I mean, come on guys, I run, so some post at some point was going to have to be about RUNNING.  However, I will spare you running details and simply discuss physical activity in a more general sense.

A lot of people ask me about running.  In all honesty it makes me rather nervous when they ask. As stated in Choo!! Choo!! I do not like to give advice, especially on running.  You see everything I know in running I have either asked someone who knows A LOT more than I do about it, have researched it in some form or fashion, or I have figured it out through trial and error.  And by trial and error, we all know I mean I just kept trying new things after each failure until I finally figured out what worked for me.  

When I was first asked about running, I would try to give very in-depth, technical details on how running works.  A true heavy-weight response.  (Imagine that..lol)  Of course very soon after I began the conversation the person's eyes would glaze over and they would descend into some type of conscious coma.  The technical explanation of running was not working.

After several conversation induced comas, I decided to try a different tactic with people that asked about my running.  I just didn't answer, and if I did it was very short and uninformative.  Well we all know how that must have turned out.  I came out looking like a stuck-up bitch that didn't want to help anyone.  So technique number two got scrapped.  (See, told ya, fail, try something new, fail again, try something else.....)

Finally, one day, I discovered what people really wanted to know.  They wanted to know how I kept running, week after week, month after month, and year after year.  What makes me lace up my shoes and go out the door everyday.

You see I run.  I have friends that run.  Others cycle and even more weight-lift.  No matter our physical activity, we all have one thing in common, we consistently do our activity, day in and day out.  What makes us do this activity again and again?  The answer is simple.  We have found our niche.

We have found the "thing" that gives us more than physical activity, something that makes us feel better both mentally and physically, that makes us want to be better people.  It doesn't mean that this niche was easy or that it didn't cause pain.  The first month I started running, I was popping ibuprofen multiple times a day and my legs were swelling from my ankles to my knees.  But I kept running, even with the pain, because of the way it made me feel.  It made, and still makes me feel, alive.  

I can have the worst day ever, come home and pull a 5 mile run and my entire outlook on life will have changed.  If I miss more than one to two days running I begin to feel depressed.  I am easily frustrated and irritable, and my self-image begins to plummet.  I need the run.  I enjoy the run.  Other forms of physical activity do not do this for me.  Running is not something that I must force myself to do.  It is something that I WANT to do.

You must find your niche and you must want to do this for YOURSELF.  You can't want to run or zumba so that you can lose weight and look good for someone else or to fit in a dress for a certain occasion.  You will never stick with it if YOU don't want it.  It may sound selfish, and it is, but that's the way it works.  As humans we are born with a need to satisfy ones self.  As infants we cry when we are hungry or uncomfortable.  Although we learn to be empathetic and put the needs of others above our own, the need to satisfy ones self still exists.  You can't tell me the businessman doesn't feel self satisfaction when he lands the big promotion even though the money he earns helps to feed his family.  The same scenario happens when you decide to change your life and become a physically active human.  You can  become a healthier human for the sake of your family or so that your significant other still finds you attractive, but deep down inside if you stick with it, it is for more than a few monetary reasons.  You must like the way it makes you feel and you must want it.

Whatever your niche may be, I hope that it makes you feel as wonderful as running does for me.  I hope that all of you find a physical activity that you enjoy and love, for it will make you feel better both mentally and physcially.

Choo Choo!!!

Choo Choo All Aboard...the crazy train!  Welcome aboard, I will be your conductor for the day!  ;-)

For those of you that read my blog, particularly if you are female, we all know why you read my blog. You read my blog for the same reason I watched episodes of John and Kate plus 8 when the sextuplets were toddlers and so were my own children.  You read this and I watched that because it makes you realize that you aren't as crazy as you think!

For those of you that are male and read this blog, if there are any, you do so and realize that your own female counterparts aren't nearly as crazy as they could be.  They can always get worse, and eventually be as crazy as me.  :-)  (Insert pity for Chris here.)

(Overuse of smilies and winkies is the first sign that crazy is really setting in....)

People blog for different reasons.  Some blog to give you advice.  Some blog to keep family updated, which I believe is supposedly the reason I state that I blog..hahaha..yep, that's funny.  And then there are those that appear to blog to let you know their life is perfect.

I try very hard to refrain from giving advice.  I do not know your situation.  You do not know mine, and I do not have a PhD in psychology.  Who am I to give you advice?  Keeping the family update..well, hmmm, when you go two years without blogging, you're not keeping the family update.  A perfect life???  Seriously???  No one's life is perfect.  Mine is very far from it.  Unless you call constant chaos and abnormality perfect and normal.

Today's blog was actually supposed to consist of several posts rolled into one.  Unfortunately, this chaotic household and my own internal crazy issues at the time have caused me to weed it down to a single post.  I am sure the other posts will emerge in the near future.

The issue that made the post deals with women's lib.  Some of you have now stopped reading.  You are thinking, "Liberal Soapbox Rant Time".  Please, if you will, give me a moment.  This is not my typical feminist soapbox rant. You see, I believe that a woman has the same rights as a man, that she should be able to obtain the same job with the same pay as a man.  If need be a woman can pull the same weight and workload as any man given they are of equal weight and size, that a woman should be treated no differently merely because she is a woman.  I have many female friends who also believe in this same philosophy.  But here is my realization:  Although I and others believe that we should be treated as equals to our male counterparts, why do we still insist on being treated as women emotionally.  In general, as women we are the first ones to complain when our male counterparts will not engage in lengthy discussions.  We complain when they will not discuss their emotions and feelings.  We complain that they do not spend enough time with us and treat us with enough femininity.  But are we not the ones who want to be set on equal ground with these men?  How many men do you know that look at their female counterparts and say, "Let's discuss our feelings tonight."?  Just a thought my friends.  Do not fear, I am still and will always be a staunch supporter of women's rights.  It simply occurred to me that we as women might possibly be confusing males in this world.  We tell them we want to be treated as equals, but at the same time we become extremely frustrated when they do not properly address our emotional needs, which tends to be a feminine quality.  They are left looking at us like, "What do you want woman???"

Feel free to leave your thoughts on the issue.