Mobility (Day 5)

This is sad to say but my most favorite class this semester is aerobics. It has nothing to do with my major, it won't help me with my career. I'm only taking it because I needed another credit to graduate and didn't want homework. But it's turned into my favorite class. It's not like I signed up thinking I would hate it. I love working out. I thrive on sweat. I just didn't think this class would really be intense enough for me. Well today it was intense. Maybe it's because the room was at 80 degrees or maybe it was because my breakfast consisted of only a piece of toast and half a serving of peanut butter, but no matter what, I was tired after. I mean the tired where you are disgusted by any food for the next hour. The tired where you don't want to shower because you can't lift your arms above your head. I love that type of tired. I feel accomplished when hours later I can tell my muscles are still trying to catch up with me.

A few days ago in chapel the SA introduced their organization they would be raising money for during the spring semester. It was for a disease called Ducheme Muscular Dystrophy. It affects mostly boys but some girls can be born with it as well. The disease slowly breaks down the muscles until the heart stops beating. Most people don't live into their late 30s. When the man explaining the disease flashed a picture of his two sons and announced that both of them had been diagnosed with the disease, I lost it. Being a woman that one day hopes to have at least two boys to call her own, I couldn't handle it. I also couldn't handle thinking of being one of those children who lost mobility. I think of all the things I can do, all the activities I've been able to be a part of in the past. There would be no swimming, hiking, kayaking, frisbee golf, ultimate frisbee, coaching, running, volleyball, biking, horseback riding, and everything else I've done in my life. There wouldn't even be this blog.

I think of the way that women are so judgmental of their own bodies. I'm one of those women. I can have a laps of judgement and think that my size 2 body is fat. "If only I could lose a little here... or here." What am I doing?! Look at the body I have! I've been able to swim and coach swimming for fourteen years now! I've climbed Mt. Antero, elevation 14,276 ft. I've logged hundreds of miles running. I've been thrown from horses and able to jump back on. My body is amazing, not because of what it looks like, but because of what it can do!

My waist is perfect. It helps support my entire body. All the organs are held there, it helps hold me up, it helps me turn, bend, jump, run, swim. Without it I would be a blob in a bed. And my butt. It helps me sit, stand, squat, walk, run. And my arms. They help me hold, carry, lift and lower. One day I'll hold my children in them. I couldn't open and close and grab without them. My back. I couldn't bend, I couldn't rotate. My legs. No movement would come without them. No summer morning walks, no bike rides on the Tulsa river trail, no fall runs where I see the leaves changing and feel the brisk air rush past my face.

I don't want to look at my body and think of what it isn't. My body is more than amazing. To be physically healthy is a huge blessing for someone who loves being outdoors and active. That is why day 5 is being thankful for my mobility.