Workout to the Wise
Posted on: March 9, 2010
I enjoy searching cheep ways to stay fit, or should I say I enjoy finding great ways to distract from my inner monologue, which for some reason is being voice-overed by a male. As a member of the fastest growing, over-populated and uncomfortable gym in New York, I enjoy the bargain basement fee of $20 a month. The gym equivalent of two-buck-chuck, you get what you pay for, something you convince yourself isn’t that bad. I try to expand my exercise experience away from the fitness center and the fifty-year-old man dressed in a red mesh shirt accompanied by matching lycra shorts who sports more than just his biceps bulging in front of the portable DVD player he uses to play “at home” workouts. To get a breather from circulated gym air, I opted for a three-hour walk listening to the Jack Johnson station on Pandora. The station plays a great mix of introspective frat boy friendly music, feel good wacky-tobaccy inspired anti-war songs with just a hint of awkward displaced yearning love ballads.
As I strolled along on Sunday, I saw very simple things: the sun shining, lovers holding hands, kids discovering the coolness of sand, friends catching up, snow melting, kissing on a bench, rocks becoming playgrounds, making memories marked in snapshots. Life always seems simpler under the joy of light. What caught my eye the most was these two women in their late sixties playing a game of Scrabble not far from the Alice In Wonderland inspired statue. Surrounded by youth and noise they were focused and serene. In that moment, the question of “accomplishment” was about making a 14-letter word that had ‘m’ as both the fifth and the eleventh letter. Knowing that the answer was staring them in the face, they continued in silent bliss. Was it time that made them content or was it achievement?
Braving the shin shock of that 160-block walk, I went to a free salsa class yesterday. The class takes place on stage in a middle-school auditorium. I use to attend the classes three years ago and just recently came back. It was comforting to see many of the same faces and have a face that was recognized. One of my favorite dance partners is a gentleman who worked thirty-one years as a technician for NBC. He knew all about gadgets and at seventy-two had his new Motorola Droid strapped to his side. Before class started we got into a chat about what it takes to succeed in life. Maybe it was the lost look on my face or what he sees as youth and I perceive as age, but he began kindly expressing his golden rules to enjoying life. “Discipline and good habits,” he assured, “keep it simple.” No matter how crazy life got or how distracted we may get, if we simply have “discipline and good habits,” that would guide us back to our goals. “When you’re young, you say, ‘maybe this or maybe that’ but when you’re old you say, ‘either or neither.’ You make decisions.” He’s my guru at seventy-two.
Often in our waffling, we find ourselves lost, walking without purpose. Going for a light stroll but needing shin splints because we did too much. If the letters are all in front of us, then so are the answers. It might just take “discipline and good habits” to sort it all out.
buy the time ... 
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