I’ve been talking a lot about ‘cop outs’ of late and this post is not going to break that mould. I recently overheard a number of IT people saying that the profession doesn’t lend itself to keeping in shape. What a crock I gotta say. If a doctor said to them that they needed to eat better, get more sleep and start exercising because they would die or catch some terminal disease I’m pretty sure they make an abrupt change. So the issue isn’t ‘can’t’ it’s ‘won’t’.
It is not just the IT profession in which this happens mind you but it is certainly the place that I hear the most excuses about how the ‘special’ requirements of the job require the need to sacrifice other parts of one’s life. This is simply rubbish, it is a decision made by the individual of their own free will to leave things as they are. In many cases it is just that they are too lazy, afraid and undisciplined to make a change that they know they need to make.
I will put up my hand and freely admit that for far too many years I did exactly the same thing. I avoided making decisions about change that needed to be made to regain some semblance of ‘a life’. Many today use their job to hide from ‘a life’ and in the process not only affect themselves but also those around them. They believe that ‘soldiering’ on the same old way is ‘just what has to be done’. Again, what a crock I say. These people shouldn’t fool themselves that they don’t have choices. They should also not fool themselves that their indecisions, as much as any decision they make, directly affect more than just the lives they lead.
The old saying goes that your body is a temple but perhaps an even simpler consideration is that if you don’t respect your own body how are you expected to respect anything else? People aren’t fools you know. No matter how much you tell them one thing, if it isn’t backed up by reality they simply won’t buy it.
There are so many reasons to maintain a decent level of physical fitness: it generally allows you to live longer, makes you more resistant to aliments, improves your stamina and not least of all makes you feel good about yourself. If you don’t feel good about yourself then you really aren’t going to feel good about anything else are you? Honestly, no you’re not.
I believe in karma and none more so when it comes to looking after yourself. You can continue to abuse your body for many years, but when it has had enough you are going to find how different life is without it. People maintain their homes, their cars, their knowledge but yet they let their physical condition slip. The reality is that without physical fitness you may not be able to do any of these other things may you?
We all know there are a million reasons why you should take better care of your physical fitness but I’ll give you just one. What would your life be like without it? Because if you continue on making excuses and ignoring the warning signs then you’ll certainly have no one else to blame but most likely you won’t be the only one affected by your own indecision. At the very least this is grossly unfair to them. So consider that as you let your girth continue to expand with inaction.
CIAOPS 