Stop The Excuses!
If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s hopelessness and pessimism. When all seems darkest, one needs to form a plan for attack. Good or bad, having any plan empowers one to keep fighting and conquer challenges. Settling for excuses of why one can’t do something is self-defeating and self-fulfilling.
As I was heading off to the park to go for an off-leash hike with Wheatie and Toby yesterday, I heard a report on the radio that kids can’t help but be overweight and obese because there are too few parks and recreation centers nearby. After having an “are-you-kidding-me” coughing fit, I forgot about it until Yahoo printed the same report today. According to health officials, American kids are overweight at least partly because they have no where to play or exercise. Only 1 in 5 homes is within 1/2 mile of a park or fitness center. Despite this, only half of the kids said it was hard to get to playgrounds, jogging paths, or exercise facilities. Somehow, the other half realized they could find places to exercise if they chose to use them. (Hmm…perhaps the kids are more capable than our health officials give them credit for being!)
I grew up in the middle of no where. Did we have parks, playgrounds, or exercise facilities nearby? No — we had “outdoors.” If you live in a city, you probably do have designated green space within walking distance. And if you live in the suburbs, you only need to open the front door to have a place to run around. If you live in a bad neighborhood with no safe parks, perhaps you’re on a bus line where you can hop on to ride to a more agreeable area.
According to USA Tourist dot com,
“There are many thousands of parks scattered across the United States of America. They range from tiny little neighborhood playgrounds and individual buildings of historical significance to immense tracts of wilderness and natural beauty larger than some nations. The US parks can be loosely categorized into National Parks, State Parks, Local Parks and Private Parks.”
For goodness sake, can’t we exercise without a structured facility, activity, schedule, etc.?! I think these health officials need to get Fit As Fido to get with the program! And for those of you who understand exercise is just a simple dog walk away, here’s your link to finding dog parks in your state. There are actually THIRTY-FIVE DOG PARKS listed for my small city. Thirty-five dog parks alone. Now if I can so easily find a place nearby to exercise my dog, don’t you think you can probably more easily find places to exercise your children?!
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Books by Dr. Marcus
