Better to Laugh

I just celebrated my birthday. Another year down, but I don’t keep track, anymore. Seriously, I haven’t been able to readily remember my age for years now; I have to do the math. We had dinner plans with the family to celebrate, so I could not fit in a run or workout in the afternoon. Well, I could have completed a couple of miles and just changed clothes, but that would not have been pleasant for anyone. A couple of hours after we got home from the restaurant, I felt like I needed to get out and run, run, run. Alas, the gourmet hamburger was still sitting in my stomach, and it would be near midnight by the time I changed, stretched, ran, showered, stretched again, and got into bed. I opted to get my things ready and get up at 5 a.m. to run the next morning.

Now, I did not feel the need to run so that I could burn off the calories from my birthday meal (hamburger, fries, and part of an ice cream sundae), nor am I obsessed with exercise. I was just feeling keyed up that night because I was in charge of our school’s variety show the next day, and I needed to burn some extra energy to relax and focus. Exercise is nature’s way of relieving stress, better than a cocktail or other chemical relaxer. When we work the human body, the brain releases natural mood boosters, with no side effects. And, there is no co-pay! Besides the chemical benefit, the rhythm of the movement and breathing seem to bring everything back into sync. Running, walking, swimming, biking, dancing, and so much more, choose your type of exercise, get into a rhythm, release those beta-endorphins, and unwind.