This is Why I Work Out

This man is trying to save his house with sand bags as the nearby river floods his Seattle home. We moved here, to the Midwest, from Seattle just over a year ago so I still have a strong attachment to the place. And I can tell you that this season’s torrential rain and flooding is not all that unusual. I think the scope is a little bigger this year and the water a little deeper but they are a low-lying coastal city and flooding happens. (They also live within the ash zone and/or lava plain of five active volcanoes but we won’t think about that right now.)

This is why I work out. So I can do what needs to be done. To help myself and to help my family. Even though I no longer live in a flood plane (yay!) there is always something. Here it is tornadoes. In the Rocky Mountains, the threat is earthquakes. California has Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. And even if it isn’t a natural disaster, there’s a lot to be said for being able to heft that 80-lb solid wood coffee table someone left on the side of the road with a sign that says “free” before your neighbor sees it. I love that I know if my car breaks down or runs out of gas (um, not like that ever happens to me. ahem.) that I will have no problem walking two or five or even ten miles with a gas can in hand.

So – tell me why you work out!! Have you ever been in a situation where your health and your strength saved your life? Or at least your bacon (soy, of course;))?

PS> To all my Seattle friends, my prayers are with you.