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There are some things in life that I could do without – like whining, gum on the underside of tables, and pets (not that I don’t like animals – I just don’t want to have to carry a pooper scooper in my back pocket 24/7). Other things – like water, books, and conversation, I don’t think I could give up. Ever. Not even for stray puppies (again, not that I don’t like animals; I’m actually vegetarian – I just don’t want to be locked up in an isolation chamber. I’d be insane before, during, and after, and then how could I help anyone?) HOWEVER, some things, I have found, live like this person Oscar Wilde likes to call ‘Dorian Gray’. These things are notoriously ambiguous – both a sacrifice and blessing all at the same time. School. Church. Family Reunions. One of my personal favorites is sports.
Es Pee Oh Are Tee! (essssss).
I am notoriously a very active, energetic person. I spent a good five years practicing Karate. I then spent two playing soccer. Throughout those seven years, I was also participating in some physically demanding performance camps and workshops.
Subsequently, I spent one year doing almost nothing. Yes – that was a big ‘uh-oh’. That was a massive ‘uh –oh’. I remember the reasoning: I needed to focus more on my schoolwork. I was pressed for time and too stressed out. I wanted more time for sleep.
Boy…was I misguided.
I quickly realized that lack of physical activity meant I had a lot of pent up energy and stress. I couldn’t focus as well on my tasks. I couldn’t sleep at night. I was eating the same amount of food as I had when I was active, so I was gaining weight. I couldn’t get mad at a soccer ball, so instead I got mad at my parents. My body needed the exercise, and I wasn’t providing it. Such. A Fail.
Thankfully, my mom recognized my problem, and since it was too late in the fall season to join a sport, my mom, a friend and I all joined a gym. Lesson learned, I joined volleyball this August.
I feel like I got hit by a bus going fifty miles an hour and someone neglected to call an ambulance. No.
Everyone. Everyone neglected to call an ambulance. Or offer an icepack.
Going to the gym kept me in shape, but not in the kind of shape a conditioned volleyball player needs to be in. I was completely floored my first day. Shuffling and suicides and jumping really high and running around the whole gym every time anyone misses the ball….It is hard work. It is painful. It is possibly death inducing.
HOWEVER.
It is also some of the most fun I’ve ever had.
Volleyballs are flying everywhere. There are mistakes and there’s progress. Friendships form! There’s support. There’s laughter. There’s the relief of stress. There’s the knowledge that what I am doing is good for my body and good for my mind.
So if you are not sure whether or not to join a sport this year…Do it. Do some sort of physical activity, even if it’s ping-pong. I know this from experience. You may thank me later =)
