Worship the Body!

I used to be extremely fit. For years I exercised almost every day: Aerobics, Gym, Swimming, Circuit Training etc. And I supplemented all of this with regular sport: Squash, Tennis, Cycling, 5-a-side Football, Sailing etc. My body (to use an old adage) was like a temple. Toned & healthy.

But now I’ve become dissolute. Apart from the odd swim, the occasional sail, and a bit of pumping up and down on my thigh-strengthening machine, I hardly do anything to arrest the encroaching menace of old age. I smoke and drink too much too; this hardly helps. My muscles have become flabby, my lung capacity has been reduced to the size of a small rodent’s, and in some areas, cellulite can be seen bubbling under the surface of my pallid skin (yes, men do get cellulite as well as women).

So it came as a shock to the system yesterday when I played a very hard game of squash with a friend of mine. I tried very hard to win but, despite me putting up a brave fight, it was no wonder that he beat me hands down (although that was probably due more to his skill than to his strength). However, it made me feel wonderful just to have played. It’s about two years since I’ve been on a squash court and I’d forgotten just how invigorating it can be. True, there are certain parts of my body that are strongly complaining this morning (getting up from a chair seems to be difficult, for some reason) but it’s that lovely, delicious ache that you get when you know you’ve done a different type of exercise; one that has pushed the body to work in way that it normally doesn’t. I came away from the squash court beaten, but not defeated. I felt exhilarated and glowing, and I can’t wait to play again.

In the meantime, it’s all rush, rush, rush – as usual. I’m struggling to finish a piece of work that I suppose I left far too late to begin; I have several fish that need my attention (my Buddhist monk suggested that I stab them if they are causing me stress - I might take him up on the idea); I’m being chased by my accountant to get my Year End Accounts finalised and delivered to him (so boring); and to top it all, I now have to go away for the weekend because it’s an old friend’s birthday and she’s having this big bash in Sussex (although this will, of course, be fun). I wonder how I’ll fit it all in.

Lethargy is the habit of the immoral and the debauched. But now that I’ve started playing sport again (and I return to sailing next week), this will no longer be a problem. For when the body is alive, so is the mind. And when the mind is alive, so lethargy dissipates into oblivion.

I’m very excited by this. I feel that I have been travelling on the road to the Emerald City for too long. Now, I can put my foot down.

Horace asked me to tell you this: "Choose a subject equal to your abilities; think carefully what your shoulders may refuse, and what they are capable of bearing". Good advice? I think so.