Upgrading Treadmills! The Exercise of Life

“The most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”
— Randy Komisar

I was told that September is National Self Improvement month.  So I went looking for what a number of us are working to improve.  I picked exercise as my topic.  While this may not be seen by some as self-improvement, there is a connection between physical and emotional well-being.

Many consider a treadmill when we think of exercise.  We start out in life not being able to even afford a treadmill.  Then we save the money and buy one.  While our goal is to exercise, it is often the convenience of running indoors at the same spot that makes the treadmill appealing.  Running outdoors does not cost anything and you get to breathe fresh air, but it isn’t convenient due to weather, etc.

As time goes by, however, we seem to get caught up with the bells and whistles of our treadmill and feel like we need to get a better one.   We save more money or worse upgrade to a more expensive treadmill and get into debt.  We now are more invested to running in the same spot.

In our lives, I noticed that we tend to do something similar.  We spend on an education, develop the skills to join the race.  While our intent is to create a good life by working hard, we usually get caught up in the race − the rat race.  What we end up doing is exactly what we did with our treadmills, keep upgrading our life styles without deliberate concern about enhancing our quality of life.  We keep running at the same spot without a clear idea of where we are going.  Our conditioning to work hard and do well keeps us focused on the treadmill of life.

We get into an auto-pilot mode and keep on going and miss out on life.  We do not know when to stop or for that matter, when to pause and reflect on our life.

Many of us have mastered this so-called “Art of Upgrading Treadmills.”  We just swap one for another, but never seem to get off until we retire or die.  Why do so many of us tend to overwork in our first life in order to enjoy our second life — life after retirement?  The prime years of one’s life come earlier than later.

Find a  simple way to become aware of the source of your desires and fears.  To learn more, visit my web site at www.krishnapendyala.com or read my book Beyond the PIG and the APE: Realizing SUCCESS and true Happiness.

Peace and be well.

Krishna

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