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.