Physical …let’s get!

 

There is a stage in our lives when we look back at everything we have eaten and pray to God it does not come back to haunt us but suddenly every donut and Cadbury bar you ever ate seems to seat with ease on your waistline.  At this same stage, we begin to wish we had been more physically active growing up; you know, made a habit of it. We begin to think that may be hiding under the desk during P.E time in P.5 wasn’t such a good idea. We begin to wish we had not abandoned running for our sports houses in school because we were afraid to acquiring “potats”.

I have reached the stage at which an involuntary sigh escapes from my lips each time I collapse into a chair; it is not as hilarious as it used to be when I was 5 years old and the person sighing was my grandmother.

I blame the system! Yes, I am physically unfit because the system made led me to believe it was not that important to be physically fit!

If you have studied and grown up in Uganda for most if not all of your academically vital years, you know that any co-curricular activity is not something you run home with achievements about. The traditional Ugandan parent wants a good report card, with straight “A”s or rather, 90s. Run all you want in primary school, dance, sing and act, win those races and bring back certificates but come secondary school they expect you to be “serious”. Why? Uganda ought to have clocked in more Little League winners, more Kiprotichs and Akii-Buas and less obese people but what are statistics? It’s all about the books now and then ironically you need to “pound those pavements” looking for a job, God help you if you are unfit because today, you literally have to chase that job. Then you begin to marvel at why you did not just take on athletics in the first place.

In the not so recent past, I took a liking to watching television programs that applauded or went to lengths to depict human agility, programs like America’s Best Dance Crew, Strictly Come Dancing, Figure Skating, and our very own Hot Steps and most recently, the Olympics.

I was inspired to become fit but I discovered that gyms are darned expensive so I tried taking yoga instructions from a book. This did not last long so I decided to jog every evening because mornings in my neighborhood can be creepy. I realized jogging is not much fun, especially when cars and their owners are trying to ram you into the nearest pavement. If I was going to be fit I would it would be better if I learnt something in the process so I hired my cousin to train me in Tae Kwondo. This was successful for sometime but our schedules began to clash and I had to stop. My most recent discovery is Zumba, it had better last because this sweat inducing dancing is so much fun.

What I must do has been clear for a while now, I may not make the Olympics but I am going to make it a point to preach sport or any physical activity to anyone who can listen, especially the children. God help us if these children are as unfit as our generation.