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One, two, three, four - stretch out your hands!
One, two, three, four - lift up the right leg!
One, two, three, four - bend forward!
One, two, three, four...
Every morning, standing in the middle of our kitchen, four of us: my father and my two brothers, welcomed a new day with some exercise. It was a combination of something enjoyable with something useful; we enjoyed our company and we made our blood circulate vividly.
It was a long time ago. Now I am an adult and I am in a good shape, slim, not to say skinny. My body doesn't require any special treatment. I eat what I want, the calories and then the fat don't like me. My genetic machine works properly and burns out everything that may cause a seizure of its cogwheels. So I don't do the jogging, I don't attend various health clubs and I don't spend money on a sophisticated equipment. But it doesn't mean that I don't exercise. If I don't even feel like doing it, I have to. I stretch out, I lift up, I bend forward and I make fifteen - twenty miles a day. What's more I am paid for all these exercises. People who are so generous in helping me to keep my body in a good shape don't realize what a great favor they are doing to me. Watching my bustling around they ask themselves: "How is it possible that he eats so many things which contain fat, calories, cholesterol, things that we can't even think of, and he doesn't gain weight?"
And I watch them too. I watch their struggle to loose weight, to get rid of the excess of the fat, to pump their bodies with muscles and I know that they are doing it the wrong way - they are too busy thinking about their appearance. Even if they go jogging, they don't forget to check a reflection in the mirror: "Am I looking all right? Maybe I should change the shorts, the color is too bright. And the sneakers don't go well with the T-shirt!"
After four or five miles, if a body builder was able to make such a distance, the wet, sweaty and smelly accessories of a sport's achievement mark the way to the shower, making an obstacle race for somebody who will always pick them up. And then it is my turn to do some exercise. I crouch, I stretch my arms, I lift up, I bend forward... Sometimes when I want to make my exercise more interesting I whistle or sing one of my favorite melodies.
There was a movie about a cotton plantation that I saw a long time ago. Men and women who worked on the field were singing while picking up the white down. I liked their way of doing that and I liked their songs. It seems that the music helps a lot in a process of developing the muscles.
People like to exercise, listening to the sound of drums, guitars and the voices of various performers nowadays. They attend gymnastic classes where the music is of a great importance. Never mind that an elephant crushed on their ears and they don't hear the rhythm of the music. They strenuously try to repeat every move of their instructor. The dismay is manifested on their faces, but they gambol in time with the music: "The Pope his way - the Peasant his way." The deafening rattle from the speakers is unpropitious to have a conversation, but Thank Goodness that it is so loud - they can't hear their groans of exertion.
"How was the class?" I ask when they come back home.
"What did you say?" they seem to lose their sense of hearing.
"How was your exercise?" I repeat louder.
"Well, I am pooped!"
Whistling my favorite melody, I begin my exercise. The sneaker is on the right - I stretch out right hand. The socks are on the left - I bend forward. The head-band is on the couch - I run. The gym suit is on an armchair - I pick it up...
Sometimes people are fed up with running on a hard ground, because it hurts their feet, and they can't stand to listen to the flat voice of a performer so they decide to make the exercise easier. They spend some money on a sophisticated piece of equipment and space it out in different corners of their bedrooms or, if they have one, of the spare room. Usually the first exercise is an intellectual one; they try to put a few refractory parts of their new gadgets together. Having finished it they rest their bones on a bed, couch or an armchair and then it is my turn to do some exercise.
"Put this over there!" the finger points to a corner of the room.
I push the "this".
"No! It fits better against the other wall!"
I move it.
"Move it a little bit to the left!"
I pull it...
Put, pull, push, lift... It is a good exercise. I can feel it in my bones. All the calories that I consumed with my breakfast and lunch are burned out and my body is prepared to take another dose of them. Unfortunately people are too busy to take advantage of something that is handy. They always find an excuse: "Well, if I have everything so close, and I don't need to go anywhere, I can use it when I want to!"
But they don't use it. It seems that they are willing to get tired, get sweaty and are even able to give up the ghost when they pay someone else for helping them to do it.
I am surprised with their way of thinking. On the other hand it is not my business how they think. But if they don't know what to do, they should ask me. I am in good shape and I don't have any excess of the fat. I exercise every day and I don't have an excuse for it.
I can eat everything
And I don't think
That I need
Even the widely advertised shake
To drink
So what are you waiting for?
What do you think?
IF I CAN DO IT - YOU CAN DO IT!
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