Getting moving. Ugh.

At least in my Third Third, I’ve realized that the mood I have upon wakening does not have to be the mood that follows me around all day. I can try distraction (a movie), a good conversation, an activity outdoors. Sometimes a trip to Costco can cheer me up.

So what’s bugging me lately? I think I’m letting my body go down the tubes. I’m not getting enough exercise and seeing my mother’s dementia and knowing that exercise is the best way to hold onto cognitive abilities just makes me freak out about it even more.

So that’s why I’m sitting here writing about it.

Maybe it’s that the weather is transitioning to winter but there’s no snow for skiing. Maybe it’s that problem with my feet; they have some weird hurt. Maybe it’s that I can never remember what the lap swim hours are at the pool. But those aren’t even the issue. The issue is inertia.

[break while I went for a run]

Okay, things aren’t so bleak now. It’s just that physical exercise is low on my personal priority list. Tim has to exercise every day. It’s in his DNA or something. Me? I could lie down and blob out any hour of the day all day. I could idly skim magazines, do a crossword puzzle, make up a grocery list. I could even do laundry over physical exercise. In fact, I often feel highly motivated to do laundry.

I am never highly motivated to move my body. I have to play tricks on myself like getting into running clothes. Once I do that, it will happen. One friend once asked me if I’d be her dog. Friends with dogs have to take the dog out for a walk; maybe that would get us out.

But now, the fear of dementia is overwhelming. Not to mention that my body is starting to look like an old person’s body, and that’s of more immediate concern than dementia. As usual, If nothing changes, nothing changes. So I’m going to try a New Thing.

A few years ago, I came across an article in a magazine about the eight best cocktails in Anchorage. There were colorful photos and clever names for some of them. I don’t even drink, but I said, “Let’s do an Anchorage cocktail tour. We’ll do a different one every Friday.” What an incredible amount of fun! Our group grew every week, and I discovered things like little baby cocktail shakers. I also discovered things like drunk people in bars. Yikes!

Anyhow, at my athletic club, there are all sorts of classes I’ve never taken. Mostly at the athletic club, I take showers. I can’t stand the idea of getting hot and sweaty indoors. But other people do Zumba and Insanity and Cize. I have no idea what those are. I’ve done the machines, but there are new ones. I did do the 30-day Plank Challenge with a friend on Facebook and that kind of worked.

So this is my plan. I’m going to do a Barbara Tour of Exercise Alternatives. Just the idea of being in an overheated room full of sweating people leaves me screaming for an exit, but this is a Mission. A Quest. By saying this publicly, I’ve embarrassed myself into action (I hope). Either that or dementia will nip at my heels. Stay tuned.