Once upon a time…ok, MOST of the time, exercise is something I do as an absolute chore. The whole idea of dragging myself outside and doing something till I swear…errrr, I mean SWEAT…is enough to send me to bed for a well deserved nap. I hate exercise. It’s such a drag. However, I dearly LOVE to go outside and play!

One of my very favorite things to do is ride my bike. I got my first bike when I was ten. A single speed monstrosity from Monkey Wards. It was blue, and had fenders with white stripes, and a seat big enough for any decent John Deere tractor. It was HEAVY so you really got a workout. This was back in the days when children did something most kids today cannot comprehend. They went outside…to play! As soon as breakfast was over, man…we were out the door. Free to explore and pretend and get dirty and have the best time. We lived across the street from the streetlight, so as soon as that thing came on, we had to go in for the night. Food was an afterthought. I didn’t have an ounce of fat on me.

Mom worked so she left me and my brother home with a little list of chores that had to be done when she got home from work. I liked doing chores then about like I do now. I’ll put them off till the last possible minute. I remember the neighbor calling over the hedge at 4:00 every afternoon. “Ginny Girl…you’d better be getting your chores done before your mother gets home. We don’t want you gettin’ in trouble now, do we?” So, I’d reluctantly drop whatever I was doing and go in and whip through the tasks as fast as I could so I could get back outside. Living in the camper with less than 5% of my worldly possessions has certainly simplified my to do list. So, yesterday I went out to play. My bike is vastly different than the behemoth of 1963. But my journey in my mind is much the same. I’m biking to Canada, panniers packed, a small trailer following behind with what meager supplies that will be needed. I mentally go through the same checklist I did at ten when I imagined “choosing” and “packing” what I would need. And I fly!

Exercise is hard work that makes you sweat. Playing is fun and makes you glisten! Which would YOU rather do?

❤

“So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.”

Ecclesiastes 11:10