We've all seen those commercials, haven't we? Seven minute workouts, or ten-minutes a day. We know that they're absurd and yet we don't completely ignore them. Not unlike that old adage that if someone invented a pill for the perfect body, they'd be richer than Bill Gates. What that speaks to is not laziness, but our wrong conception of both fitness and happiness. And yes, the two are linked.
The reason fitness brings contentment is not simply the image staring back at us in the mirror (Megan Fox, perhaps), but the knowledge of what we have had to do, and will do in the future, to maintain it. The reward then, is in the process. The happiest people are inevitably those who work hard to achieve their goals, people who are not fooled by a society that insists they need only consume just one more thing to be happy. Consumption leads to laziness, which leads to self-pity and the quick fix, which leads to a decreased self esteem, REGARDLESS of the person's weight.
Fitness, like happiness, is about work. About expending energy and giving of ourselves, even when it gets difficult. This sounds absurdly simple, but I can tell you in my years as both a trainer and counselor, the anecdotal evidence is difficult to ignore. The difference betwee the ones who give up after four weeks at the gym and the ones who stay and fight through the illusion of a quick fix.
As to the advertisements, don't be fooled by the picture on the cover, by the model who has spent the past ten years working out and eating right. Forget the picture. The only thing that's true about most gym advertisements are the smiles. Hard work can be fun, and when you're a beginner, ten minutes a day may be all you can do. That's okay. Don't be discouraged, just keep at it. The days will pass and soon you'll be able to work out harder and longer. More importantly, you will start to see changes, especially in how you address difficulties in other areas of your life. Ten minutes a day will not bring you a perfect body, but it will move you one step closer to fulfillment, and that is an ad we should all be willing to answer.
-Steve
