I was talking with a friend today, and she inspired me to write a post about our discussion. We were talking about working out and making it a priority in our lives. We both agreed that for us it isn’t a matter of making it a priority…we both have the motivation. The problem is that other “priorities” are actually responsibilities that have to come first. Speaking for myself, I spend the majority of my day at work. I wake up between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. to get ready for work. My commute takes between 20-30 minutes. I work from 8:00-5:00. Then I have to rush to my CrossFit workout every day at 5:30 p.m. That is my fitness regimen of choice. The challenge is I am also a single mom. Every other week I am in charge of getting my daughter to her many activities during that week. Sometimes I can just barely fit a workout in around her activities. Most days, however, it gets put on the back burner so that I can get her to dance or gymnastics or some other obligation that being an 11 year old requires. Many people say, “If you care enough, you will make the effort. What about working out in the morning?” Well, here’s the thing. At the ripe old age of 39, sleep is a really important requirement in my life. If I don’t get at least 7 (preferably 8) hours of sleep per night, I can’t function at my job, which is pretty important in order to continue having a source of income to pay my bills and support me and my daughter. Sleep is really the next responsibility on my list of responsibilities that include my job and my daughter. I sometimes don’t get home from her activities until 9:00 or 9:30 at night. She usually needs to eat something once home, and then there is the bedtime routine. So…on an average night I don’t get into bed until about 10:30. I am one of those people that needs my down time before bed, so I don’t usually turn out the light until closer to 11:00 or 11:30. There is no way I can get up at 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning to workout on only 6 hours of sleep or less. That doesn’t even include the fact that when I have my daughter, I can’t workout in the morning anyway because I have to be home to take her to school.

Everybody’s situation is a little bit different, but my point is I am not unique in this situation. Most people have work, sleep, kids, and other obligations pulling them in all sorts of directions. My job doesn’t even require me to put in overtime (thank God). I find it absurd that, despite all the research on the importance of exercise, in this country we are not afforded a lifestyle that allows us to take care of our physical and mental health. There simply isn’t time. I am the most motivated person I know in terms of working out. It is truly what keeps me sane in life. Without it, my mental health would decline even faster than my physical health. With all this talk of healthcare and coverage, I can’t help but think that maybe some of these issues could be solved if we actually valued the idea of taking care of our citizens BEFORE we need to go see the doctor. I am not saying we don’t need healthcare. Anybody who knows me understands that I am all for a universal healthcare system in this country. Fit, healthy people get sick, too. However, maybe we could start by actually giving our citizens enough time to take care of ourselves. Personally, I know I could be just as productive at work in a 6-hour day as opposed to an 8-hour day. It has already been proven that people do not have the ability to work for long periods of time without a break and movement to stimulate our creativity and to re-generate our minds and bodies. Why don’t we have a focus on health and fitness built into our day, much like meals or work? With the ever-growing problem of diabetes and overweight people, this just makes sense to me. But I guess that would mean ending our dependence on the drug industry and not needing to self-medicate with alcohol or some other drug-pushing mechanism. As consumers we need to wake up to how our capitalist, oligarchical society keeps us chained to our desks and enslaved in a lifestyle that simply isn’t healthy for us. I am speaking in extreme generalizations of course, but I challenge my readers to think about how we could be promoting the physical and mental health of each other in ways that are tangible. I do think that our work cultures are shifting, albeit at a snail’s pace. I think flex scheduling in many places of work has helped this problem. However, in most places of work, 40 hours is still the minimum requirement to be considered full-time. Maybe it is time to start thinking outside of the box about how to be productive workers but also be able to take care of family obligations as well as our personal health. I would love to know your thoughts! Share in the comments if you feel so inclined.