We Work Enough. Go Play!

The trail is calling, or is that your life?

According to a recent survey, America's mid section will do nothing but get larger in the next twenty years.  No, we're not adding geography to the Midwest by adopting Canada. The geography being added is to our mid sections, our waistlines.

A Duke University study tells us that, at present, roughly a third of all Americans are considered obese. By 2030, that number is projected to be 42%. Think about this: That's two out of every five of us. And we're not talking just overweight here, we're talking obesity.

The Center for Disease Control says, "For adults, overweight and obesity ranges are determined by using weight and height to calculate a number called the "body mass index" (BMI). BMI is used because, for most people, it correlates with their amount of body fat.

• An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.
• An adult who has a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese."

You can check yourself at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.htm

I teach classes for a living. I teach business people, mostly real estate agents and managers. We learn important things like working more effectively with Buyers and Sellers, utilizing technology, filling out forms and managing our businesses. What I ( and others) are not teaching is how to have a life, how to incorporate some balance, how to play.

I do not know of a single instance where a person on their death bed uttered the words, "I wish I had worked more." We work enough and most of the people I know in the real estate business work way too much. So what is the answer? Well, I think it's simple: play!

Running is my play. I love it because 1) it's easy to do (I throw on minimal clothing, having invested minimal finances to do it) and I'm out the door 2) it has good byproducts. It leads to an increase in cardiopulmonary fitness, reduces weight, lowers blood pressure, decreases the cholesterol and triglycerides associated with coronary disease and helps psychological stability.

The big bonus, beyond a little psychological stability, is that when I play/exercise, I'm a better worker. I'm sharper, I have more stamina and I get more accomplished in less time. And many of my best ideas come on the run. It's that endorphin thing, I guess.

So, what about you? Are you ready to play for better work? For a better life maybe?

I've run for nearly 46 years, over 99,000 miles. But, not everyone is a runner. Maybe you can walk, ride a bike, swim, hike, do rumba dancing, something......  No marathons necessary. Twenty to thirty minutes three or four times a week will do it. Just move: play!

Of course you don't want to be stupid, so in the way of a disclosure/warning of sorts, I offer this: "the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you see your doctor before engaging in vigorous exercise if two or more of the following apply:

• You're a man older than age 45 or a woman older than age 55.
• You have a family history of heart disease before age 55.
• You smoke or you quit smoking in the past six months.
• You haven't exercised for three months or more.
• You're overweight or obese.
• You have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
• You have impaired glucose tolerance, also called prediabetes."

In the movie Up In The Air, Ryan Bingham, George Clooney's character hauntingly says, "The slower we move, the faster we die,"  and "Make no mistake, moving is living."

And movement is the key. Get out and move. Make the time, invest in the big picture (and isn't your life the biggest of pictures?). Bilke wrote, "people are wrong about the motion of the future. The future stands still. It is we who are moving in infinite space." So, it begs the question, are we moving enough?

We work enough. Go play!