Week 8 - Fitness is for Everyone!

I was recently asked what motivated me to improve my fitness level. Heck, there are probably many other things I could be doing with my time. I could be watching more TV, playing computer games, going out drinking with the boys. I can imagine anything could be more fun than going to the gym three nights a week.

Well, life is sometimes about making sacrifices in order to squeeze in the events into our precious time that matter more to us.

Some people love their TV shows and they can't miss the next episode of 24. They are willing to give up other commitments to ensure that they don't miss the next episode of 24 .... which is fine. We are all wired differently and our wants and desires are all different. After all, wouldn't the world be a boring place if we were all wired the same? I'm not much for TV, but that's fine.

I chose fitness for three reasons:

1. I was approaching my late 30's at the time, working in a fairly stressful job at TD Bank. My weight was up, but not at a dangerous level, but my blood pressure was rising. Also I was really not happy about my work and social life circumstances, which I couldn't change easily. I had some "wake up calls" about my health and the fact that I started taking blood pressure medication spoke loudly. I had to do something, so I chose fitness. It was the one thing that I felt I had control over.
2. There was also a more superficial reason: I wanted to get a girlfriend. I thought the gym would be a good place to meet girls. Once I started going to a club, I realized that people who were serious about fitness didn't stand around socializing.
3. Finally, I wanted to get the muscles in my abdomen to protrude. Only now are my muscles beginning to protrude in my abdomen and on my legs.

I still recall the first time I stepped into a fitness club: It was at Bally at Bay and Bloor. I was really subconscious with the way I looked and walked. Even then, I thought fitness clubs were only meant for fit people.

However, thank God for the truth: Fitness is for everyone!

• It's for the person who uses a wheelchair for mobility
• It's for the elderly husband and wife
• It's for the generously proportioned person
• It's even for the family dog!! - yes, there are even treadmills designed for dogs to run on! Hilarous, but true.

I look at the need for fitness from a spiritual perspective. Our body is not really ours. It was created by God and He has entrusted in us the responsibility of maintaining it in good working condition so that we can do our best work for His Kingdom.

Circling back to what I said about making sacrifices in life, making a commitment three nights a week to improving my fitness is indeed a sacrifice, but you needn't make it your main ambition in life about everything else.

Achieving your very best physical condition will make everything else in your life that much easier. For example, a person who is more fit generally handles day-to-day stress with less effort. The good news, too, is that you don't even have to join a gym. You can become fit by working out in your own home. In my home, I have a stationery bike and some free weights, and that is it, which I use on days when I can't make it to the gym. Unfortunately, I don't have the space in my house to throw the weights around.

Once I made it a habit, fitness workouts just naturally become a part of my life. It is a given that I will show up, right now, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings. I know those three days will be long ones with a full day of work and then having to go to my workouts, but I see a payoff, and the payoff is improved performance levels in all aspects of my life, inspite of the late nights.

Again, I say this with passion:

Everyone has been put on earth to fulfill a mission. I firmly believe that my mission is to inspire others who live with physical disability to personal greatness, one person at a time. I believe that we were put on earth to help one another, whether it be by inspiring others through our actions or by providing detailed instruction.

I have been inspired by others like me and I want to pass it on to others. I believe that fitness is a gift. It can change your life in ways you will never imagine.

I'm proud to be a member of the new generation of people growing up with a disability. A group of people with a can-do attitude and a will to succeed inspite of the adversities we face.