The Secret to exercise

If I have a mild case of OCD, I know how I got it and am also sorry it has only manifested this way. For over 20 years I have been counting, mostly to do my back exercises where I am to hold certain positions for five seconds and repeat them a certain number of times. This has led to counting in several different timing situations and whenever I'm bored, like the song "Counting Flowers on the Wall."

Unfortunately this OCD hasn't manifested itself in even a mild case of cleaning house, although I must admit to a certain fastidiousness when it comes to cleaning my person. (My youngest daughter has even called me germophobic. I'm not really. I just don't want the hassle of cleaning up later, if I can reasonably avoid it.)

Now back to the exercising: Probably everyone has learned to approximate a second by counting them with the appendage "one thousand," as in "one one thousand, two one thousand, ..." All during my second counting while I was married to Marilyn, I substituted another three syllable phrase, "I love you." (I don't think I ever told her that I was doing this.) Well, Marilyn had me listen to the audio book of The Secret, in which Rhonda Byrne talks about gratitude and saying "thank you" often, and now I'm doing so when I exercise. "I thank you," is another three syllable phrase.

I must admit, if done properly, saying thank you results in less stress. I started saying it to myself when I got exhausted while I was skiing and I was tensing less even though I was still exhausted.

I wish there were other secrets to exercising, like getting the benefits without actually having to do it. But at least I like most of it, particularly the walking. When I used to run, early in the morning in Houston because during the summer that was the only time the temperature was low enough for me to be able to, 80, I didn't have the knowledge of the power of "thank you." While I can't say that I enjoyed running, I did like the endorphin effect, the second wind. I've never gotten to that point walking, but then I haven't done it all that long.