The main trick I use to push myself to exercise is remembering how much I don't want to have a titanium box put into my chest (well, it would be ok if it gave me super powers or something, but not to help my heart do what it should be doing anyway). However, that's more of a long term thought - skipping the gym one day isn't going to be the difference between needing a medical device or not. It often leads to the thought - I'll start getting to the gym everyday... next week.
So I've come up with a new motivation for the day to day: What if I become immortal tomorrow? You might think exercise would not matter at all if you are going to become immortal, but in most immortality stories the body you have when it happens is the body you keep forever. So if you've got an extra 10 pounds or your arms have atrophied a bit this might be the last chance to deal with it or regret it for hundreds of years (funny how most tales of immortals involve them dying within a thousand years or so).
You might think that becoming immortal isn't something to worry about, but all it takes is one car accident where you take off the head of a highlander and take his powers, or one vampire sneaking up on you and letting you drink its blood after draining yours, or remembering when a greek god grants you a wish to ask for eternal youth instead of eternal life. From that moment on till you are beheaded or staked or whatever happened to greek immortals that didn't become crickets, that's it, there's no amount of exercise that is going to make a difference. Of course if you gain immortality through becoming a giant worm it doesn't really matter, but you'd probably know already if you grew up on the spice planet and had a father that could see the future.
People are always so down on watching TV, but if I hadn't watched so much of it that I worry about what would happen if I became immortal I wouldn't have a cool new way to motivate myself to get to the gym.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
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2 comments:
I thought you were going to say that you were reading a novel and it was so boring you decided to work out.
And then it turns out you had the best! reason! I! have ever heard! to exercise!!... and then I felt really stupid because I didn't know any of the references. One of them was Buffy I think.
hehe, it sure takes a lot to get you on that bike! Thanks for the biblio and the spoiler warning- i plan on reading that Dune series some day
Did you read about the vegemite/marmite war on this site: http://www.hknet.org.nz/Marmite-Vegemite.html? I love how they have "The difference", and then "the philosophical difference"
enjoy digging into my past! Do you see what I mean about the time warp thing? I'm alternating between writing in the present and typing up past entries from my handwritten journal (for when I didn't have internet access), and it feels like i'm my future self looking into my past...or something. Hard to explain really.
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