Run, Forrest, Run! You Confoundedly Slow Little Bugger, Run!

I've never been much into sports and exercise, and though it seems to be a pretty popular form of exercise, I've never been much into running. I'm certain it is helping all sorts of things under your skin and is releasing fuzzy-feeling hormones and what have you, but to tell you the truth, I've never been able to get over the fact that it simply looks ridiculous to me. The one sport possibly more absurd to spectate is speed-walking. And just think how similar the two are, one is just going slightly faster, isn't it.

People who are jogging by me on the street always have, to me, this face of aimless desperation, as best as I can describe it. (Maybe it has to do with the fact that you are running at an accelerated pace towards absolutely nowhere.) Primarily, I think it nags at me sometimes because it just looks so painful. Why is that necessary? Actually, this bothers me with most sports. I like watching people have fun if they're doing something athletic, but often the self-conscious "requirement" to exercise subconsciously overthrows the natural amount of enjoyment you can get out of it, and this is exactly the thing that makes me so strongly want to avoid all forms of exercise. At a certain point, it stops being benefit and just turns into... masochism, or what have you.

I think it's partially why I like juggling so much. It's something physical, but there is forever some hint of light-heartedness when jugglers practice, even if they are concentrating very hard on learning something new. With so many other forms of exercise, the only thought I get from watching people is something along the lines of, "Stop, you're killing yourself. Your cells are screaming and you've just stuffed in earplugs." I can't stand it when people look tired, bored and unenthusiastic after exercise. I believe in balance and homeostasis above all things, and I believe that routine exhausting exercise is nothing but an overall negative extreme for the body.

I like seeing pairs of joggers who are going at a casual speed slow and easy enough that both can still engage in conversation as they go without looking a bit red-faced. If they have enough air to laugh about something, then that is as much of a jogging pace as you need to go, for me.

I had two highly intelligent grandparents, married to each other, on my mother's side. They always told their families never to take on extra exercise. Their belief was to take everything in moderation, and that as far as exercise, the body only needs to be active, not strained or pushed an extra amount. As she explained, if you do the chores around and for your house, and don't let other people or machines do everything for you, that will be absolutely enough for a healthy amount of activity to keep you healthy. As he explained, if you want some wine, drink some wine. If you want to rest, take some rest. If you want to gamble, play a game or two. If you don't do too much or too little in your life, all will be well.

They both lived to be 97 and passed away contentedly. This philosophy is damn well good enough for me.

So... with all that poured out, back to studying for German literature exams for now.