Fitness Freaks or Freaky Fitness?

As a precursor to the upcoming annual sports day at office, there is a fitness camp planned for 10 days. It includes a variety of activities like aerobics, kick boxing, pilates etc. Reminds me of the saying Jack of all.. well, do I need to complete it? The excitement levels were pretty high yesterday ( first day of the camp! ) with some people coming dressed to office in sportswear. Day one started with some good music and movement with the trainer claiming it be to be low impact aerobics. Whether the impact was low or high, only the participants can tell ! There sure was a collective echo from the crowd "If this is low impact aerobics, then what exactly is high impact????". The trainer being really agile kept changing the steps and it was quite a challenge to keep pace with him. At the same time we had to be on the lookout for hand and leg co-ordination. And making sure that we don't hit the person in front,back,left or right, and avoiding the walls or mirrors. Tough one indeed. By the time we got the hang of one step, the instructor had moved on to the next one, or even the next to next one ! After sometime the trainer proclaimed that it was a warm up session and we could proceed. Hearing this there were lots of loud gasps and exclamations, as the activities actually caused heating up. Reality dawned on all those who thought running for the bus, climbing the stairs or a post lunch stroll everyday was exercise. The cool AC in the room didn't help and people were soon sweating it out like being exposed to the Sahara sun. One participant rightly remarked, "I have never exercised so much all my life". It could be debated as to which was funnier, watching others perform or watching your own self in the mirror. The class was wrapped up amidst giggles, pushes, dashes, pants and exclamations. Did the enthusiastic novices get past the freaky stage to move over soon to being fitness freaks? Only the coming classes can tell.

You can make a difference

During a recent training session a video narrating the following story was shown.There was a man on the beach who appeared to be dancing and moving about. When asked what he was doing, he said that the tide was out and there were lots of starfish stranded on the shore. If not rescued they would slowly die. He was picking each one up and throwing it into the sea. The observer said that there were hundreds of starfish lined up for miles along the beach.How could he make a difference. In answer to that, the man picked up one starfish, threw it into the sea and said "I made a difference to that one"! The observer thinks about this and the next day he joins the man in the rescue operation.
In our lives too, we can make a difference, however small it may be. The general thought is that what difference can one person make ? So no one takes the initiative to initiate any change. It is rightly said that little drops of water make the mighty ocean. We can choose to be one little drop. We can choose to not litter our roads and contribute to a cleaner and and a greener environment. We can choose to feed one hungry child on the street. We can choose to wait till the signal turns green before speeding off. We can choose to cast our vote to the most appropriate candidate. We can choose to stand up and fight injustice. And the list goes on. The situation may be as big as the ocean and the hundreds of starfish, but if you have made a difference to even one starfish, it makes the situation better than before. And if every person makes a difference to at least one starfish, there wouldn't be any left to die.