Exercise, It's Like a Long Walk to the Hot Tub

It's the end of the day. I have 40 minutes to get to Zumba class. I would rather peel off my shoes and pour a whole bottle of Pinot Grigio into my wine glass, and then watch mindless TV.

I now have to totally change out of my work clothes into a whole new outfit that includes a sports bra, contacts and tennis shoes. Why, why am I going to this much trouble to go out again?

Why, because Sandy is a cop, and she can get there to class. Can you image what her day has been like? On Tuesday, she showed me her still bleeding hand, and she told me about breaking up a dog fight.

How about Lourdes? She teaches two dozen five and six year olds, all day, in kindergarten, all week long? Or Jeanine, who works for the city, and always brings her cute little mom, Elizabeth, with her, to class.

If they can get there, and plan on me, shouldn't I make the effort as well? I would miss seeing each and every one of these amazing ladies. I really would. They are me, in there 50's, menopausal and fighting back a body that sometimes doesn't feel like their own. They and we fight our rounding, heavier bodies, one day at a time. We notice our sagging breasts, our sagging self esteem, and our sagging skin. We are there 3-4 days a week to support each other, and get in our workouts, together. Although the class in general is really large, sometimes there are evenings, when only our core group of 4 or 5, like today, makes the effort and shows up.

My hot tub is clear on the other side of the house and yard. It is quite a walk from the upstairs bedroom. In the winter, when the wind in blowing, and its cold and dark outside, it's quite a trek to walk out to tub, pull off the lid, and expose bare skin to the cold. Some nights it seems like so much work to strip down, take off my cozy slippers, wrap up in a cold towel, to head out into the night, and the elements.

Exercise is like that. Once you go, and make up your mind to be present in that time, you love it. You love that you took the effort to drive to class, or walk out to the hot tub. You love that people are there to say hello, and ask about the day, or slip into the warm bubbly water. You are so glad that you went to sweat, and move, or just sit, and look at the amazing stars above.

It's a feeling, a feeling of pure joy, one you get because you took the time to make the effort. You are so glad that you did, and you totally enjoyed that time and experience. At the end of the day, you had so much fun and felt so good; you can't wait to go back. You can hardly wait to get back to class, to sweat again, and giggle, or star gaze. It's all about how you look at things. And making the effort, oh, yeah, the effort was so, so worth it.