Virtue

I just saw a story that John Mellencamp promised to stop smoking if he gets a million facebook friends. And Drew Carey will donate $1 million to Livestrong if he gets 1 million Twitter followers. Am I the only one thinking, why do you need all that affirmation? The fact that your 14 year old son wants you to stop smoking should be enough for you Mr. Mellencamp. And if you have a $1 million to spare, why not just donate it already Mr. Carey? Do you want to tell someone with cancer that the reason you didn’t was because you weren’t popular enough? Apparently these guys weren’t raised by a mother who reminded them that “virtue is its own reward.”

Exercise is one of those virtues. You shouldn’t start running or an exercise routine because you want to look skinny or sexy for someone else. You should do it for yourself. Do it because it makes you feel good. Do it because you want to be healthy. December is the hardest month to stay on track though. My friend Joanna had a good idea, adding just one small thing to your workout to help you stay motivated. I’m going to try and think up a small running challenge for myself each day. I was going to try and run every day in December but I just don’t think that’s going to be feasible with traveling and holiday chaos.

Today’s challenge: mix up your route. I run pretty much the same route every day. From my house I run a mile to the park and then run on the trail until I hit the halfway point of the distance I’m running. On my next run I’m going to run a different way home to mix things up. If you run a loop, try running it the opposite way. Run down a different street in your neighborhood. Or run a completely different trail. Just a little something different to make you think!

Today’s mix is a Hanukkah song from Sacha Baron Cohen’s brother. Seriously, the dude is a musician!