Active Bodies, Joyful Lives: A Homeschool Dad’s Case for Moving More
Run While You Still Can
My guy friends are always making fun of me for my habit of running everywhere. I don’t mean running 5Ks or half-marathons or anything like that. I mean running across the parking lot from the car to a restaurant, or running when we are crossing the street. “You’re always running everywhere. You’re just like a big child!” they chide me.
I suppose it’s kind of true. Running is just something I do—everywhere! Whether it’s to the mailbox or up the stairs at home, I’m usually in motion. At Walmart, I park and dash into the store without a second thought. And why not? It’s fun! Maybe it is childlike. But the way I figure, there will be many long years at the twilight of my life where I can’t run. There will come times when I am plodding along slowly, wishing I could run. Why not run now, when there is still breath in my lungs and vigor in my step?
When Fitness Is an Afterthought—Until It’s Too Late
Not long ago, I started noticing something interesting about my trips to the gym. I began to pay attention to the demographics of the people I saw there and noticed that a significant number of them were older. They were either working out to maintain mobility in old age or working with a personal trainer to regain mobility after an injury. For many people, fitness is not something they seriously consider until illness, injury, or age diminishes their mobility. It is only after they have lost mobility that they start to think about physical fitness.
This is not surprising. The World Health Organization estimates that a whopping 1.8 billion adults are at risk of disease from not doing enough physical activity. In the United States, it is estimated that 1 in 4 adults are almost entirely sedentary, placing them at risk for serious health conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and obesity. The sad reality is that a large swath of humanity no longer engages in sufficient physical activity throughout the day to maintain basic levels of health. For many of these individuals, mobility will become a concern only after it has been compromised. Their fitness efforts will emerge later in life, focusing on clawing back little pieces of mobility that have been ravaged by years of sedentary living.
Choose to Move: Embracing Health While You’re Able
This is why I choose to run while I still can. Being active has numerous preventive health benefits, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and premature death. It can also improve mental health, bone density, and cognitive function. And it’s just fun to move swiftly through three-dimensional space, enjoying the reality of being an enfleshed spirit “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). I’m not insisting that you need to run to the mailbox or sprint across the Walmart parking lot. However, maintaining regular physical activity is essential for overall health and wellness. It has been proven to substantially improve your quality of life, especially as you age.
Homeschooling and Movement: Modeling a Joyful Lifestyle
So, get active and get your kids active. It’s not just about the movement; it’s about embracing the life and energy you have right now.
My friends might tease me, calling me a big kid, but I’d rather be the kid of the group than someone looking back wishing they’d been more active. Physical activity really is about more than health. It’s a celebration of what it means to be alive, to feel your heart race and your muscles spring into action as the body does what it was designed to do by its Creator. Whether it’s running, walking, dancing, or anything that gets you moving, the point is to do it now, while you’ve got the chance. Because one day, when our steps slow and vigor fades, we will want to look back and know we didn’t waste a single moment we could’ve spent running toward life.
What would you like to add to this conversation? To share your tips, experiences, and questions, you can join me and other homeschoolers in the Homeschool Connections Facebook Group. I would love to hear from you!
Editor’s Note: If you would like to learn more about health and nutrition, Homeschool Connections offers middle and high school health science courses for homeschoolers.
