Rethinking Lifestyle

Our push-button lifestyles emerged in the 20th century along with the introduction of electricity. I still remember the euphoria that swept the countryside around 1950 as we all got “plugged in.”

Of course by that time tractors and cars had, for the most part, replaced horses. A gallon of gasoline probably got more done in an hour than man and animal together had formerly done in a day. And the advent of petro-chemicals on the farm eased the burden of keeping weeds at bay.

Modernity was celebrated. Perhaps nothing symbolized this shift better than the thermostat. In earlier times it required a lot of physical activity to keep one’s house warm. Now, with the advent of the modern oil furnace, you could do it with a little push of your index finger.

As the decades rolled on, technology advanced steadily with gizmos and gadgets that allowed us the luxury of not using our muscles very much at all. Soon cars had automatic transmissions, power steering and electric window openers. Manual typewriters became electric and then morphed into computer keyboards. Fruits and vegetables for which we used to labor now appeared like magic year-round in supermarkets.

Ah yes, utopia was within reach! But as we bore down on the close of that great century we gradually became aware that modernity was bringing with it unintended consequences. We were being changed as people.

The term, “couch potato” was born. The word “obesity” found its way into our vocabulary from relative obscurity. Books and articles about the negative effects of a “sedentary” lifestyle began to flood the market. And, wouldn’t you know it, soon it was suggested that a host of medical problems were linked, directly or indirectly, to lack of exercise. Modernity was beginning to bite back.

And so emerged the modern exercise gym. Many of us began to drive miles for the opportunity to sweat it out at the gym in order to gain back the health that modernity had taken from us. Or we could be found walking or running around town, going nowhere in particular, just to get back into shape. But most of us soon gave up. It was too hard to fit modern exercise programs into a tight schedule in which we drove from one sedentary activity to another.

So what is emerging now in the 21st century is an attempt to build purposeful exercise into our lifestyles. In some senses it is a throwback to earlier times before electricity and oil took over most of our daily physical responsibilities. Walking or biking instead of driving is making a comeback. Growing your own food is gaining popularity. Participatory sports is putting a dent into spectator sports.

The genie is out of the bottle. Once we begin to comprehend what the modern lifestyle has taken from us, we will find many ingenious ways of putting exercise back into our daily routines. The more we do, the more our bodies and our environment will thank us.