I want to give a little background of where my love for exercise came from. In school I was not athletic at all. I was on the high school golf team for 3 years and was pretty scrawny growing up. I was good at dodge ball only because I was terrified of getting hit so avoiding the flying red and yellow balls was no challenge. Throwing them at my opponents, however, was a different story. Even badminton proved to be difficult. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I fully understood the benefits for physical activity and healthy eating. My vocational class choices were always extra English and math courses. Photography, ceramics, and leadership never took my interest. However, after taking all English courses available and giving up on being a math whiz, I was left no choice but to take a full year of P.E. for half day, every day.
Things at home were rough. I am the youngest of four and my sisters were no longer around. My parents both worked and were struggling through their marriage. Without too much detail, for two years I was invisible. At least at 17 years old, I felt so and I didn't like going home. It was often empty or tense so I chose other outlets to fill my time. One of them was to work out in the high school gym or run the bleachers and trails everyday after school. Soon it was for 2 hours during and 2 after each school day. It made me feel good and in control.
That was 10 years ago. 1 marriage and 2 kids later, I still enjoy that same clean feeling that exercise offers me. I'm certainly not the same size I was in high school (who is or wants to be?) nor do I have that kind of time to invest in it, but I love to work out. At times I still use it as an escape when life throws me lemons. I will forever be grateful for my body and for the ability to do something I love so much.
