June 2009

TO CHANGE OR NOT TO CHANGE

Just when you think you have life figured out, things change.  Nobody likes change.  Especially to something one likes.  But to survive is to adapt, so when conditions take a curve, you have the choice to crash or to turn. 

I hate exercise--the sweat, the unflattering Spandex, the aches and pains.  But I need to exercise.  As a writer, I spend too much time in one position, leading my body to rebel.  To keep the joints oiled and operational, I need to move them.

I do enjoy walking, and have spent many hours strolling the country roads around my home.  But even country roads change.  More people move in or discover short cuts.  Not so great in winter when snowbanks pile up and shrink the road to barely one and a half lanes.  These days the increased traffic has also meant that even the whisper of a shoulder in the summer isn't wide enough to dodge speeding cars.  Every time I walk, I have visions of Stephen King and his famous encounter with a van.  Before I turned this road kill vision into a self-fulfilling prophecy, I had to find a new way to exercise.

My friend and I attended a local women's expo earlier this spring.  There, a Jazzercise group performed.  I told my friend I was going to sign up.  The classes weren't far away and the schedule fit the time I usually exercised.  My friend, a polite and kind person, looked at me as if I were crazy.  "You?  That?"

She did have a point.  I am not a warm and fuzzy person who emotes.  I have two left feet.  My car radio doesn't know music.  I usually stuff it with books on CDs or tune it to NPR (Radio Lab alone has spawned more story ideas than I can ever write in a lifetime.)  I prefer silence to write, so I can hear the rhythm of the words.  And my butt spends more time parked in a chair than boogying.  But I know if I don't check exercise off my to-do list first thing in the morning, I won't get 'round-to-it.  With a free trial period, I figured I had nothing to lose.

Turns out that even a person with two left feet can do Jazzercise.  Skinny Minnies, wearing the latest exercise fashion, don't fill the class--just every day women like me, who sometimes flub the steps.  The instructors work your heart, strengthen your bones with weights, and shake out the cobwebs.  As a bonus, I'm getting acquainted with popular culture.  Plus, it's fun.

Sometimes, change is good.  If you want to read more about decision points, click over to my new article.

Keep reading!

Sylvie

I was nominated for a Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award
in Series Romantic Adventure!