The Only Way to Really Live is to Get Sweaty

My youngest sister's boys (ages 11 and 9) attended a water sports camp this summer.  They live in San Diego.  They could choose water-skiing, wake boarding, surfing, kayaking, etc. They could do one activity in the morning, one in the afternoon.  It sounds AWESOME!  She said she has never seen them so completely wiped out at the end of the day as they have after this camp!  I say, AWESOME!  City Kids today don't have the opportunity to get wiped out like that physically as much as kids who grew up working on a farm.  Of course, though we had an acre of land when I was a teen, I was definitely a city girl.  Meaning, I didn't have to go out and bale hay or take care of horses or milk cows.  I didn't have to take care of a garden (usually) or even mow the lawn.

I was waaaay too lazy.  My parents tried.  Dad's philosophy was, boys do the outside work (yard, animals, cars), girls do the inside work (cooking, cleaning).  We had a garden very sporadically.  As a teenager I admit I was very adverse to going outside.  I might get dirty!  The dirt and wind bothered my contacts!  I would get sweaty, and I just showered so I did NOT want to get sweaty!

But I learned in college that the only way to really live is to get sweaty.  I would get sweaty in dance class... and it felt good!  I would get a little sweaty just rushing across campus from class to class.  I finally realized it's ok to get sweaty.  It's ok to not look perfect all the time.  You could actually accomplish something if you didn't worry constantly about how you looked.  Being perfectly clean and perfectly coiffed is over-rated.