I cycle a lot. When I gather with my cycling friends and clients we always check to make sure our chain is lubed, we check air in our tires, see if the breaks are working, look at the alignment of the derailer, check the break pads, listen to any odd noises and even clean the bike…each time we ride. Some riders even lighten up their gears in order to create a bike which over many miles can become easier to ride.
This got me thinking about how many other “non body” items we pay special attention to.
For instance, we get regular tune ups on our car, we also put (or “should” put) oil in every 3-5 thousand miles, we fill our cars with gas, check the wiper blades, wash the cars, wax them and check for water and washer fluid to name a few check list items to help our vehicles function well.
When we want our house clean either we hire someone, or we, ourselves, scrub the floors, windows, bathrooms, dust and vacuum so that the house is all shiny and looks great. We will check the air vents, filters, gutters, pipes, sprinkler systems and spruce up the lawn.
Now lets look at what we do for our bodies. How about when we get ready to get on the bike? Do we stretch, eat properly for fueling for energy, only put healthy foods in to our body so we can take care of our heart and legs (the driving forces to cycle well)? Do we take as much care in lightening our bodies as we do our bikes…each time we ride?
How about the fundamentals of our car…do we take ourselves into the doctors as often as we take our cars in for it’s check ups? Why do we expect more from our bodies than we do our cars, yet we take more time to get our car warranties honored…but ignore our life warranties?
Do we deep clean our bodies (minds too) as well as we deep clean our homes? Do we scrub and shine the inside of our arteries, lungs, cells and muscles like we do the foundation of our homes?
Quite a perspective I think!
So many of us seem to jump from day to day, year to year, expecting so much out of our bodies, while rarely giving it / ourselves/ the same attention we do to our cars, our bike (or other fitness toy) or home!
How do you think your body would run if you gave it the same, or more attention as the things we own…or even lease? Something to consider….