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I have spent the past year trying to figure out why my view that we need to resolve every day and not just on January 1st is so different from other (my husband would say “normal”) people’s style of resolve. Resolution in January, forget by Feb, coast til next year.
I’ll blame 60% on our concept of work (blame the evil corporation) and 40% on our cultural view of human personal responsibility.
The evil corporation 60% portion…we live in a culture where we trade our time for our money in the form of work. In this culture only paid work is valued, which is why motherhood is so damned hard and under supported. In this culture, it takes an hour to get to work and an hour to get back home. In this culture the idea of an 8 hour day is ridiculous, we fool ourselves into believing it is 8 hours but the stats show that it is more like 9, 10 or 11. So, that leaves few hours for the rest of what the human body and spirit needs. (Never mind the grocerylaundrydustingvacuumingcookingshovellingmaintenance duties for now.)
This imbalance has caused us to adapt the “pursuit of happiness” habit, formerly reserved only for royalty and the gods. We feel that we “work” hard enough to have us some of that “rest”. We are not wrong but we gave so much at the office that the movement and joy got squeezed out. When I think about it, my life was most in balance when I hurried around after a small child. Sorry, did I just make you spill your tea?
Really, our lives are meant to be movement and work. We are made to sleep, eat and move in the pursuit of satiety and safety. Which means finding food, gathering wood, cleaning in the river, making safe the nest. All of this work is physically exhausting but it is actually worth it, if feels good, is grounding. Unlike (the mentally exhausting )pursuit of hunting down that client to get him to sign that contract so that the corporation can make a huge profit and pay me a small portion for doing so. How is that going to keep the warmth in the hut? I mean, I know it pays the hydro guy to walk around to read your meter so the power corp can make their money to pay his pittance but where was my body in all that? Sitting at my desk, in my car, on my couch. See what I mean? The money moves so we don’t have to!
Here is the 40% personal responsibility bit…we bought it hook, line and sinker. It is only the very, very excellent corporations and institutions that do something about this out of wack-ness. They all see it, know it, but shrug it off. This brings to mind the DPA (daily physical activity) program in my daughter’s school. At various times throughout the day, everything stops, the almighty voice comes over the loud speaker system and says, “Get up and dance to this song!” or something like that. The teachers and kids groan but they all get up and for 10 minutes each day they wiggle and wave some movement into their lives. They do it (hate it?) together. At least it has been acknowledged that they need some more movement in the sedentary day, yes, it’s a shame that it has come to that but there you have it.
Seems to me, the only solution if for us to push hard at that 60%. Just decide to move that needle of personal responsibility and take back a little bit of the time/effort/oppression. No one is stopping you from bring an exercise ball to work and sitting on it for at least an hour instead of your chair. No one is stopping you from brown bagging your lunch of a huge salad instead of slouching down to the food court. Eat that salad at your desk, on your ball and then walk up the stairs to visit a friend for 10 minutes. No one is stopping you from standing up on the subway for half the ride, it is an amazing ab workout if you don’t hold on! No one is stopping you from walking up the stairs to your desk instead of taking the elevator.
In fact, no one is stopping you from rattling the cage of said corporation and starting a committee to have the stairwell painted a pleasing color, art hung on the walls and music piped in to it. This would benefit all the employees by making the stairs a nice place to walk. The corporation benefits by having more invigorated staff that have less of their lifeblood squeezed out and more of their heart in the day (forgive the pun.)
I know it takes immense effort to roll that rock but this is your life! Not theirs. If not you, who? Who is going to be creative in finding ways that will extend your life and improve your health so you can enjoy it? I don’t want you to put your foot through that new 40 inch tv screen, you did work hard, you did earn it but I think we need to “deserve” the rest differently. Don’t give it all away, steel 30 minutes each day from the corporation or just use them differently, work them your way, you will feel better and be more productive in the long run. Start a “movement movement” that will last all year.
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