Zumba, Zumba

Sometimes keeping the body busy is the best way to divert the mind. I have found that while in Zumba class I spend the whole hour focusing on my body and how to make it move the way the instructor's is that I don't have any time to worry about all the hard realities of life. It is probably for this reason that I found myself in not one but two Zumba classes today. It wasn't preplanned or even intentional, it just sort of happened. I had planned on going to one Zumba class at the YMCA and then Susan called and wanted me to join her at her gym for a different Zumba class. Not wanting to miss the class I had already planned on going to because I really liked the instructor, I simply agreed to go to both. Now I would not have just one hour of solace from my thoughts, but two. Afterwards, I felt sore but amazingly refreshed and so I decided that for  the next 3 weeks while I was still off I was going to make working out my job. So far I've only found one thing I really enjoy doing - Zumba - but I will go to every Zumba class I can. Maybe along the way I will find something else that inspires me the way Zumba does.

It's ironic that today when I come to this realization that exercise really does help heal my soul that a friend posted a picture on my page of three college boys kicking a soccer ball. These boys were spotted in Goldsboro, NC and they are kicking soccer balls across North Carolina in an attempt to show people how a sport can bond people of different religious backgrounds together in a peaceful coexistence. The boys are all college students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - my alma mater. I'm so glad that Jeff posted this on my page and that I was intrigued enough to go to their website Kicking Across Carolina and find out all about them. It was indeed inspiring and proved to me that finding something you are passionate about can do miracles for not only your own physical and emotional well being but also helps to strengthen your bonds with other people. It makes me remember something Shea had said at Nolan's memorial service. She had said that when she was in high school and we were playing soccer together she never imagined that those friendships she was developing then would end up carrying her through her adult life.

There's that phrase - "a couple that plays together, stays together." I think there is a lot of truth in this statement. I don't think that it necessarily means that Marshall needs to do Zumba with me but that we both have exercises that we enjoy which, while molding our physical bodies also mold our spiritual bodies. For Marshall this is surfing. If you have never surfed, let me tell you it is hard work. I'm an extremely strong swimmer but paddling a 9ft surfboard against waves is tough! But when you do finally make it out there the serenity of the ocean beyond the waves is mesmerizing. Many a times I made it out beyond the break and just sat on my board and took in the beauty and calmness of the vast ocean. If two people are able to both find something that helps them to physically and spiritually improve themselves then they are bound to stay together. I think it is when we let not only our physical self but our spiritual and emotional self to become stagnant that we have troubles in our relationships with people. That would explain why we feel more energetic and alive when we exercise. So for now I will Zumba my butt (and cares) away and hope that each day I feel just a tiny bit more alive for it.