The video above: Jadie on her Jumper
I didn't grow up in a home where movement was of great value. It has been a new world for me to marry into a family that is very physically oriented. They juggle. They get involved in sports. They run marathons and half-marathons. And they jump, as you can see in the video of my granddaughter on her trampoline.
The first time I saw Jadie on this device, I thought, "Oh, cute idea. But she will lose interest eventually, and then it will sit there, a piece of plastic and canvas, languishing in the corner." I remembering exactly that phenomenon happening with a stepping device I bought after I saw it advertised on TV. A well-meant purchase, but not long-lasting in terms of usage.
Well, Jadie's jumping device has gathered no dust. When we're over there (and let me gloat yet again that being "over there" is a much more frequent occurrence now that we live 15 miles away from them), it's not unusual for Jadie to hop on her contraption, turn on the music and jump for a while. Her parents have done gymnastics, juggling, rock climbing, camping, hiking.... She is growing up in a culture of movement.
If I were a dancer, I'd have 2 left feet, as they say. I have to make myself put down the book or laptop, get off the couch and move around. I have to urge my body out the door in the mornings for our walk, although once I'm out there I enjoy it. I have no desire (to the grief and exasperation of my dear Husband) to learn to juggle. Training to walk half marathons is something I do because I cognitively know that it's a good discipline, not because I just can't wait to walk miles and miles until my feet hurt. Until the last dozen years, I've never been part of a family that was aware of or delighted in their bodies and enjoyed moving them.
It would have been better for me if I'd grown up with that difference in the way my family did things. I think life would have been richer and my struggles with weight, lesser. I am blessed that in the last half of my life, I'm surrounded by a family culture of movement. Maybe someday it will become second nature to me, too. I hope so.
I played basketball in middle school, but other than that, I also did not grow up in a family that was physically active, so I fully understand. I do remember my parents getting a badmiton net one summer, and we did occasionally get neighborhood softball games going once in a blue moon, but "exercise" was always talked about with a groan. I too, wish it were something second nature to me. :c)
ReplyDeleteI wonder what comes first, the chicken or the egg. Do some people not exercise because they don't have a history of it, or do they not have a history of it because it's not something they are disposed to do, whether it be for mental or physical reasons? Some people are inherently less energetic than others.
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