ALL of us need to breathe and eat to live. It's a given. Some, like me, also have to daily move our limbs vigorously in order to feel alive.
Jogging and cycling are what I speak of, at least in the fair land of Jenaris. They are a piece of the jigsaw that is my mental health. Yours, too, presumably.
The complete picture is called WEEPS — Working, Eating, Exercising, Praying, Socialising — my version of Groundhog Day.
Socialising is, of course, a river that has run dry. Work is wobbling worryingly, like a drunk on the edge of a chasm. But both are finding some oxygen in two-dimensional and antiseptic screentime.
However, if you are living in Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) territory, exercising by means of running and cycling is to be forgotten altogether.
The standard operating procedure says only one person can leave the house to buy necessities from a shop not more than 10km away.
It also forbids sporting and recreational activities. But provides, disappointingly, no clarity beyond the bald words.
So, what do you do if you want to keep the Exercising in WEEPS, yet not shed tears for running afoul of the law and risking an infection?
This question is especially important if you live in cramped surroundings — in tiny flats or narrow terraced houses. Where north, south, east and west have invisible walls only a few feet away from you.
Now if you were wealthy and possess mansion-like bungalows and ranch-like land (the T20's domain?), space to roam free wouldn't be an issue at all, EMCO and MCO notwithstanding.
This class of fortunate people could include personalities with great power who must have worked very hard and with cunning to be where they are.
But back to the question: what can you do to keep the Exercising in WEEPS? Especially, if you are like the renowned Flying Sikh, for whom, as The Economist describes, "running was not a sport", but "[i]t was everything, his religion, his beloved, life".
Well, here is one not-so-novel thought. Some of you may judge it to be nothing more than a grain of mustard seed, but it's all I have, and it's sweet under the circumstances.
When I need to go out to buy food or other stuff, I get on my bicycle — loyal Shadowfax — instead of in my car, and pedal briskly for five to 10 minutes to Haji Ali's shop past tree-lined roads and a field a little less than a meadow.
The sun has been merciful. Or perhaps, it too must be enduring an MCO of sorts, hiding behind unseen clouds in a slate-grey sky.
It's been pretty cool the past week for much of the time. I just have to make sure I have a face mask in the pocket but not a passenger (my cat) on the carrier.
Walking to the restaurant, too, is not a great hurdle. It's great exercise though, I have found. Just slip into a good pair of
shoes, a mask at hand and maybe an umbrella too. Off I go. You, too.
If you do it, you may sweat a little, but you will be drinking in goodness for body and mind. Not least because the 'workout' increases your dopamine levels.
Keep that in mind yah. Better WEEPS than to weep. It's a given.
The writer is NST Production Editor
