Sarah Hoop

A Lack Of Motion

Think back to when you were a kid. Close your eyes for a second. Visualize it. Feel it. What were you doing? The answer probably revolves around physical activity of some sort. Odds are, when you were a kid, you played outside after school. You played in the dirt, met your friends for a game of kickball and foursquare, or rode your bike for hours on end. You played games where you used your imagination.You fell, you got back up, you tried again! You finally conchered the monkey bars! This, this is how childhood should be. Full of mental stimulation, physical stimulation, problem solving, failure, and success! However, this is no longer the childhood our kids face. Babies in shopping carts with a phone dangling over their head, kids in restaurants stuck staring at their phones the whole time, not communicating with their parents, their siblings, or the staff. Kids staying indoors after school browsing through tiktok for hours on end, scrolling through instagram wondering why they're not good enough, inducing depression, anxiety, and sadness. All of these things are a picture of the present world we live in. Overeating, overindulging, not knowing how to find a healthy version of yourself. It is infuriating to look around and see the ignorance and naivity our society holds. You see parents wondering why their kids aren't communicating well, wondering why their kids are sad, yet still continuing to allow their kids to walk around like zombies, more interested in taking the best selfie and what their peers will think about their newest post than what they're going to do that day. Then they look at their parents. Eating McDonalds, sitting at a desk all day, moving as little as possible, and maybe even telling their kids that is okay. Because body positivity. A body is a body. It doesn't matter what you put in it and what it looks like as long as you're alive. But that's the problem now, isn't it. We're focusing on just staying alive instead of thriving. We've hit a point where we'd rather sit around all day convincing ourselves we're good enough just as we are, than actually getting out and trying to make positive changes for ourselves. We lack so much movement in our society and movement is so important. Without motion we have nothing. It's what allows the world to go round, it's what allows change to happen, it's what allows growth. As long as we are a sedentary society we are going to be a sad society. We can't keep encouraging this trend of mediocraty in movement. A little bit of movement is never enough, but a little movement will go a long way when there is none. So find a way to inspire yourself and others to move today. It can be as little of a thing as taking a walk with your kids and admiring the beauty of the outdoors. Taking time to appreciate the little things like the way the branches curl up in individual patterns and reach towards the sky. Or watching a fuzzy caterpillar slowly make its way across the pavement, knowing its whole day's journey you could complete before you even stopped to think about it. Or when a person you’re close to tries to share something with you, instead of seeming disinterested, give them a second of your time, because what if ONE second of your time could change someone's whole day. And what if pointing that person's day in a positive direction meant they could channel that positive energy into someone else? I know you’ve heard it a million times before, but the little things really do make all of the difference in the world. Every 10min walk you didn’t take over the years because it wouldn’t be long enough to make a difference, would have added up to who knows how many minutes. Every time you told yourself you couldn’t take those five minutes to stretch, would have added up to a more relaxed and healthy you, and that DOES make a difference. So I am going to encourage everyone today to put away their phones. Deactivate your social media if for only a day. You’ll come to realize how much of your energy you’re draining by worrying what everyone else is doing in their lives. What if you put even a fraction of the amount of the time you invest in apps into yourself, your family, and your friends? What if you put a fraction of the time you spend watching netflix or mindlessly scrolling through videos into learning a new skill, or working out, or reading? Your life would change drastically in a positive way! So I’m going to end with this and ask some questions. What are you going to do differently today? What are you going to do better? Are your habits helping or hindering your health and the health of those around you? And if the answer to the last question isn’t a positive one, don’t freak out, don’t get down on yourself, just reevaluate, and do what you need to do to make a change!