For Canadians of a certain age — and I’m certainly showing mine — the words ‘Man in Motion’ likely conjure up only one thing: Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion World Tour from the 1980s. In an effort to raise money for spinal cord research and general accessibility for those with mobility challenges, Hansen embarked on a tour lasting over two years and covering more than 40,000 kilometres… in a wheelchair.
I had the amazing opportunity to attend a rally commemorating the event back in the mid-80s. I don’t remember a lot of the details now, I was very young at the time, but I remember being there and the overwhelming sense of positivity and grandeur that something huge had been accomplished.
Nearly 40 years and many pounds, life events and grey hairs later I got a bit of nostalgic inspiration recently. It’s time for me to become a ‘Man in Motion.’
OK. Ego much?
I’m not going on a world tour. I think that’s pretty clear. I’m not even really any kind of distance athlete. What I’m feeling the need to do is take this much more literally. During the pandemic while much of the world was stuck at home, unable to go to work or finding themselves looking for stuff to do in their newfound ‘spare time’ I was busy at work. And working on / playing about at my usual passtimes. Because I pretty much do all of those things from home, and from behind a computer.
I never developed a new workout and fitness routine during the pandemic. I didn’t take the great advice from CGP Grey’s Spaceship You video that emphasized the need for ‘keeping the core moving at any cost’ ///FIND THE QUOTE lest you end up stalling the whole thing and ending up adrift.
So I find myself 3 nearly years after the start of the pandemic realizing that entropy really is the strongest force in the world and the only thing that’s going to stop it from taking me out is truly doing something about it — but as past history will dictate it needs to be something sustainable.
So what’s the plan?
Motion. More movement. The plan is deliberately vague at this point — to align with the ethos of a yearly theme rather than hard and fast goals the idea is a direction for improvement. For the sake of my own accountability (and to keep giving myself things to write about) I’m going to try to document things as we go. At this point the plan consists of:
- Getting a fitness centre pass to my community centre gym – DONE!
- Figuring out at least 2 days a week I can get to the gym – 50% done, one day locked in
That said I have a couple of specific things that I want to achieve this year that I’m not ready to discuss yet. The main thing on this list has an outside dependency that I won’t hear back about for a couple of months. So in the meantime, move more, and sit less.
Image Credit – Wikimedia Commons