Sorry for the delay, folks. I know I’ve procrastinated quite a bit on getting you these pros of keeping my gym membership. And this morning, I was a bit torn: write my blog, or huddle in the La-Z-Boy recliner, sipping hot coffee and staring in amazement at the ridiculously low temperatures showing on our nice digital indoor/outdoor thermometer.
Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m a California girl. But this morning it’s cold even for “normal” people. Seriously, it’s 35 degrees here! Fahrenheit! in the San Fernando Valley! at 8:00 AM! So you can see my dilemma.
Okay, okay! Fortunately for you, I’m totally dedicated to the craft of blogging and whatever, so here you go, my five arguments FOR keeping my gym membership, after which I’m headin’ back to the La-Z-Boy!
- WEATHER – well, that should be self-explanatory, but since this is a blog, I’ll explain anyway. Exercising outdoors is great and wonderful. But occasionally (like today), it’s way too cold for sensible, normal human beings to be outside. Other times (way more often, sadly, out here) it’s way too HOT for sensible, normal people, etc. etc. So having the option of going to a nice, temperature-controlled place to exercise isn’t a bad idea. Plus, if the weather’s REALLY bad, there won’t be so many people, so my agoraphobia won’t be triggered!
- VARIETY – Yeah, I love my walking, and my bicycling. But every so often, I get the idea that I’d like to try something completely different. Something completely nuts! Something (more likely than not) that I saw on TV. Well, since I don’t have an unlimited budget for exercise equipment, chances are I won’t be able to purchase the intricate equipment needed for that weird form of exercise. BUT – since I belong to a major Big Box gym, chances are they’ve already got something there that approximates what I’m jonesin’ for, and maybe even have classes in it. So there’s some potential financial benefits to keeping the membership.
- INERTIA/LAZINESS. I’ve already GOT the membership. It’s already set up. I’ve already paid the initial fees, and gone through the hassle of setting up the monthly payments, giving them pretty much every finger- and thumbprint I’ve got, and saving my favorite (or least objectional) locations on my Google Maps. And I know, from previous experience, that if I quit, I’m going to want to rejoin at some point in the future – because I’ve already done it twice within the last 20 years. Do I really want to go through all that hassle again? Not really. Let sleeping dogs (or cats, in our household) lie.
- I DO, OCCASIONALLY, GO THERE. Not as often as I should, but more often than I imagine. Every once in a while, I wake up from an uneasy, restless sleep, and there it is: the guilt. “Why aren’t you going to the gym? YOU PAID FOR IT! Use it, you lazy bum!” (or bum-ess – not sure if there’s a female version of that noun, but if not, well, TM me, then!) So I get up, have breakfast, have coffee, have more coffee, take some coffee with me to the car, drive around for a while listening to the radio, and then, when I can’t think of anything else to do, park the car at one of my bookmarked Google Maps locations and, yes, GO INSIDE THE GYM. Then, once I’m in, it’s almost impossible not to do SOME form of exercise, if only so the perky young gals at the front won’t think I’m just some old lady with nothing better to do. Of course, they probably don’t think anything of the sort, mainly because there are plenty of other old ladies there and most of us obviously don’t have anything better to do, so they’re used to us.
- And finally (whew!), reason number five (drum roll please), THIS:
Yeah, I don’t care how many scare stories get published in the Lamestream Media about how dirty and infectious gym pools and hot tubs are. I still love ’em! And I know you find this hard to believe, but even though I live in sunny Southern California, we don’t have a swimming pool in our backyard. Well, we do occasionally, when we remember to pick one up at Walgreens.
But they’re not really as good as the ones at the gym. Plus, there’s a hot tub there, and being old, I tend to get chilly a lot.
So – there you have it! The best five arguments I can come up with AGAINST quitting my gym membership in 2018. During the next few weeks, I’ll be comparing them to my arguments FOR quitting (and lest you forgot, here they are), and making a decision. Maybe. It’s still me, after all.
Oh well – at least I got one thing accomplished today: this blog post! Now, for my reward:
And oh yeah, there’s one other decision I have to make: whether to do my Weekly Weigh-In this Monday. Which, in case you’ve been hiding under a rock (or in Iraq, for all I know) happens to be CHRISTMAS!!! so I might be busy opening presents from Santa Claus or sipping hot cider by the fireplace or something. What do you say? Can I take the day off? Or maybe the rest of the year? I’m open to suggestions! Meantime – –
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