“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill — the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Morpheus
That was a famous line from the 1999 movie “The Matrix”. In real life, what if you were given a medicine that when taken regularly, would reduce the negative effects of aging, would you take it? If you plan to enjoy your retirement years, remain independent, and most of all healthy, you should. It is your decision but I am here to influence you.
But it is not a pill that you swallow. It is something you have to do. It is called regular physical activity- exercise in short. Given the consumer mindset of most people in our society today, something has to be bought, and has to be expensive, for it to be given importance. It also has to be convenient and packaged colorfully. Exercise is no different.
Depending on its presentation, people would either love it or hate it. In the fitness industry, there are all sorts of hype to promote the business of fitness. Sometimes, the information in the advertisement is misleading but then, for some people, it is what gets them to exercise. It would be better not to wait for something wrong to happen to you before you start exercising. I am not working for a commercial gym and in my current situation, I do not have to sell my services. I get paid the same amount if I train a hundred or just one athlete. It is not a joke, it does happen. I just find it helpful for me to write a blog where I can channel some of my thoughts which can be easily shared since a lot of people ask for information. So I just have to write the facts and my own personal observation. No sugarcoating. No fancy packaging. It may not be attractive, but it should be useful. It is even free. That could be the worst part. If it is free, people won’t take notice. The message may not be absorbed. Well, it still won’t change the fact that a regular physical activity is a worthwhile endeavor. It improves the quality of life. It is like a fountain of youth. When I was a Strength Coach in the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine, I was lucky to have chatted with John Baylon, an outstanding athlete and Judoka in South East Asia. He started late in the sport of Judo but he loved the sport so much that he is able to withstand tremendous challenges and was he become an unbeaten Champion in South East Asia. He said something like “A day without Judo is like a day without sunshine.”
People would have a particular activity that they would love. It is never too late to do something. You may try walking or cycling and it may lead you to what you want to do. The bottom line is do a physical activity you love that it makes you look forward to doing it. That is way better than choosing to swallow a handful of pills everyday just to be alive. So if you ask me would I choose the Blue Pill or the Red Pill. My answer is I would also take the green, orange, and yellow. Those are M&M’s! I see them as trail food! Train Better! Live Better!
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