Sports shoes - A constant companion

Recently I went through..ummm scratch that..suffered(like really hell) from a fractured Tibia. Thanks to an accident I now had 3 tibias ordained with Titanium rods and screws. 😊 I am purposely not going to mention what a Tibia is, since doctors don’t have time to read my blog and I want your curious mind to google it, or a lazy mind to just continue reading. So lazy it is, huh? Ok. I just realised I am such a narcissist, I instantly rubber stamped the suffering singularly as mine. I think I outsourced the suffering part to family while I was cozy and snuggling throughout winter in blankets going through few intelligent books and watching web series (I realised while writing there is no such word as ‘serieses’). Yeah see I am ‘growing’. A leg injury comes with few privileges and also gives an old worldly vibe of ‘khana pesh kiya jaye’ and ’takliya’ to name a few.

During this phase the thing I missed the most was..no not travel..no not even hanging out with friends..no no not even that you naughty mind. I missed wearing my SPORTS SHOES!

                I wonder Sport shoes will mind it if we just reduce it down to running shoes. Shoes is a metaphor, I mean health and fitness in general. I was physically longing to tie the laces and was pushing my parents to go for long walks, you knowww..just to compensate for my missed steps on a fitness band counter. During an injury when reverse psychology kicks in (as far as I am concerned it is all the time), all of a sudden you start craving for physical activities. To climb up/down the stairs..even 20 at a time, you want to run a marathon ..at least 10kms or so, hit the gym to get rid of tons of belly fat..regularly, go on a Chaddar trek on blanket of ice in Ladakh during winter, cycling rallies to pedal for social causes. Just every ‘hallucination’ that never materialized when you were fit and fine. I realized, the only thing that used to stop me from doing all of that was – ME; to be precise MY ignorance towards importance of healthy/active lifestyle.

Thanks to my childhood which has witnessed rigorous physical training including marathons, good amount of exercises, and all kinds of outdoor sports and adventure activities on land and in air and water..basically everything which would impede relaxed flow of air into my lungs twice a day; I feel tons of guilt if I am not active everyday owing to that muscle memory so many years ago. I guess it’s since then I found myself hooked onto – Sports Shoes. As a teenager I would never have it any other way, that adrenaline push was necessary, not just to keep me active throughout the day but because I enjoyed those activities and that kind of pumping. I lost that need of adrenaline rush somewhere between a teenager and a corporate employee. 
             It’s not like I went straight from fab to flab. I continued indulging in monsoon treks around Sahyadris, seasonal Basketball practice to compete in inter corporate games, once a while visits to badminton court, a walk on track every now and then. During this time, I was also noticing 90% crowd around me, who did not want to do even those once in a while thingies. I couldn't help smiling when someone called me a sportswoman. 😊 My mind used to start chattering, "people, you haven’t seen the sweat and blood when National Under 17 team pushes themselves just to counter the last basket of opponent before the whistle blows. You haven’t seen the International marathon runners who alienate their pain and legs during last lap to complete it. You haven’t seen my entire school batch sweating (and crying) like a pig when we got our Black Belts". Excuse me, we may not be international athletes, but we all have proudly saved our 1^st Dan Black belt..somewhere.. in the long lost cupboards..along with our stamina. We know what an actually active person looks like, we know the cost of it!! (eye rolling emoji, in case you failed to imagine non-readers(another eye roller emoji)).

Since my leg was still in cast I had plenty of time to reminisce, couldn’t help feeling bad for myself. That’s when this precious knowledge dawned upon me, which I am going to share with you mediocre slightly active people (I hope the sarcasm is coming through, else I am losing few friends right here right now). It doesn’t matter how happy I am in my relationships with everyone around me, or whether I don’t have any to begin with. It doesn’t matter how much they pay me at my futile overtime in corporate office or lend me stress to last through the night as an appreciation/award. It also doesn’t matter whether I have paused temporarily from chasing my passion..yeah imagine me saying this. For me nothing stands taller than your inherent passions if you are chasing those ethically. But now I have to say, nothing is more important than my health, fit body, sound mind and active lifestyle. Even my passions can wait. Before I love any other person unconditionally, I will make sure I invest optimum amount of time for mine and their's well being first. Yes, it is an investment and we don’t realize it until something shocking or unprecedented happens in life which we often tag it as..a loss. An unfortunate accident, early onset of heart disease, onset of hormonal imbalance like thyroid, facing issues for conceiving a child due to PCOD, even worse.. going through emotional depression. 
          For me, being healthy is not only for a long life but also for living every day with a sense of purpose. I wish to be active as long as I live, not intending to be physically dependent on others. Everyday should be illness free..of body and mind. Make sure the temple called your mind runs your body smoothly; make your body work for your mind and in turn the mind will definitely take care of it (oh please, agnostics can use religious metaphors, it’s not a crime). It’s a symbiotic relationship, which the sedentary lifestyle has interrupted. If we feel we can work our minds better without workout, we are missing out on that extra performance of our mind, we are losing the edge. My exaggerative mind already thought of human species getting extinct due to fats and flabs. Told ya, had lot’s of time to kill.

Irrespective of other things in life, we should keep sports shoes or health as our first and foremost companion. A portioned nutritious diet and activeness throughout the day; goes hand in hand with that. This way people when in relationship would give less of a health scare to each other and can roam around the world longer or play many sports together. It’s not as if I am planning for rigorous activities, just daily optimum workout and sports. I even think of teaming up shoes with office formals in future. We underestimate walking to/from/in office. Sports shoes should become a culture in corporate offices, that’s where every chair grows a belly anyways. I wish annual appraisals had a section to rate activeness of an employee. Also it is not about which workout or trend to choose from, the magic lies in the consistency and discipline of mind.
I want to bow down to the women wearing sports shoes with sarees and salwar suits, it feels like they are having mike drop moments when they watch us commute to and from office idly, while they are burning down their fats. They have shattered cultural barriers standing between them and health. On the contrary, women..scratch that..On the contrary people (fat doesn’t discriminate based on gender, mighty egalitarian) starting from mid- twenties are ridden with excuses like children, office timings, family responsibilities. Share your responsibilities and step out, steal some time for yourselves. I am all for concept of 'body positivity' and agree that specific shape should not amount to idea of perfect body. But I also believe that navigating far away from your Body Mass Index ain’t a good idea either. It is not a bad thing to wish to have a toned body, or to feel confident in one. While focusing on health, you might find a version of yourself that is better than the marketized ones; which is in perfect harmony with your healthy mind.

             I just want to say, when health becomes your first priority then there will not be excuses from your end. There are no alternatives to active life. Plus it’s high time. All it demands is minimum input, no emotional drama with maximum outcome(not output). Because unless my mind and body is sound, I cannot add value to my life; forget about adding to other’s around me. So this pair is going to rock my life as a constant companion and I am never going to forget it's importance…again; hopefully! Even if I do, please, “O dear friends, smack it in my face !!”