Welcome to Monday!

Welcome to Monday!

Welcome to Monday morning! A drag for some, but if you can drag yourself to the kitchen for your first coffee of the day, an opportunity to start something new.

I was inspired this morning when watching the news and I saw a group of 4 women competing in an international sporting event. The 4 members of the North Lodge Neptune AUSSI Masters Swimming Club broke a world record swim with a combined age of 360 years and a relay time of 5 minutes and 45 seconds. Their most senior member of the team is 96 years of age and commenced competitive swimming at the age of 86. WOW!

There was no shiny sponsorship deals, fancy gear or big pay cheques to be seen, but they were still an inspiration, perhaps even more so without the material trappings. We are used to seeing our sportspeople adorned with these overt signs of material success, fancy shoes, expensive advertising campaigns, red carpet treatment. Following any of our sportspeople on Facebook is like inviting major advertisers into our newsfeeds with seemingly endless product placement in their ‘candid’ pictures. I’m not begrudging our athletes of this treatment, I think its wonderful to see them reap the rewards of their hard work. But for the rest of us mere mortals, it is but a distant dream.

I think the women of North Lodge Neptune AUSSI Masters Swimming Club show us that sport and exercise can be enjoyed for its own sake. Without the trappings of extrinsic rewards. Allowing ourselves to participate, be champions in our own minds and basking in our own glory provides much more joy than sitting on the sidelines focusing on our shortcomings, wishing our lives away. These women started at the beginning-their beginning. One woman started at the age of 86, 4 years after a quadruple heart bypass surgery. She didn’t let her physical shortcomings stop her.

So whatever your sport or exercise preference, put aside concerns about your limitations, what others will think and your fear of not being the best. Just start, have fun and be a champion in your own mind!

*see your GP before starting an exercise regime for advice. Remember-superheros are for the comics, us mere mortals require good, sound advice.