Growing up in the inner city, kids were always outside playing games, jumping or sitting on their steps. Remember playing a game called red light green light? How about helicopter? How about jumping double dutch?
Growing up, my siblings and I weren't allowed outside very often because of the neighborhood we lived in (very bad) and because my parents didn't want bad kids to influence us negatively. My older sister and I missed out on a lot of childhood games played outside but by the time we were twelve and thirteen, our four younger siblings played outside on a pretty normal basis and we were allowed to also, with parental montorint of course. It wasn't until this age that I learned most of these games from other kids.
When I was about fourteen, my cousin, who is about twelve years my senor, taught me and my three sisters how to jump double dutch. We use to go to the park with my mother and grandmother all the time and jump rope but it was always single not double dutch. Anyway, somehow my cousin caught wind that we couldn't jump double dutch and she proceeded to teach us; however, I was the only one how caught on, my other sisters hated playing double dutch (on a regular basis I would force them to turn the rope so I cold jump). I remember jumping rope and my cousin told me to pick up my feet and I was. I felt as if I jumped any higher, I would jump into heaven! Well, here it is twenty something years later and I forgot how to jump rope.
Last week I decided to get a jump rope because I loved jumping rope as a teenager. I wasn't very good at it but I didn't care. I just loved to jump rope. Anyway, I ordered one from www.ebay.com and tried it out as soon as the mail came. Well, my two little nieces were at my house, they're one and two years of age by the way, and as they sat on my couch and watched me. No big deal. As the rope swing over my head I thought to myself, "I'm free! I'm jumping again!" The rope began to approach my feet and now it was my turn jump up to heaven like I did as a kid. As the rope approached my feet, I propelled my body into the air and the jump rope stopped at my toes. I thought I was a little rusty and decided to try again, and again, and again without success all while my nieces sat on my couch and stared at me. Well, that was the end of that little embarrassing moment. Thank God their too young to judge me! lol
Today, I was determined to try again and succeed because failure is not an option for me but instead of just jumping, I decided to hire a coach. I searched the internet for a lower body stretching videos and found a woman with a jump rope video (how did that happen? don't know).
Coach Nicole helped me say focus and encouraged to keep going. Now, obviously if I couldn't jump rope when my two nieces were here, then surely I would not be able to keep up with Coach Nicole. Her point was to keep moving and if you couldn't do her "advanced" jump rope tricks, then you can stick to the basic up and down jump. I tried a few of her jumps but I couldn't do them because I was hadn't accomplishing the basic up and down jump! I didn't give up though. I kept trying and trying until I felt I was reaching heaven. It took me the entire video just to get a constant jump going that lasted between ten to fifteen seconds. When I began this video, I could last five seconds but by the end I was almost half way to her thirty second interval jumps. Although my knees hurt a little and out of breath, I accomplished something today, I jumped, broke my wind (a sports term my brother taught me) and I will be able to do jump rope a little longer tomorrow. Now of course my jump isn't pretty. I kind of poke my big butt out, lean forward and jump really hard like a one year old learning how to jump but it works for now.
The lesson I learned today is that although I couldn't go to the gym because of my phobia of people looking at me, I have resources in my home that I can use to exercise. My other blog post about me not going to the gym are just excuses for wanting something to happen with me doing as little as possible. I want to lose weight but I don't want to put in the hard work. The hard work for me isn't eating the right food as much as it is getting up off the couch and moving. A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law told me to walk instead of going to the gym. My excuse was I don't like to be cold. It's the truth. I hate being cold! She said you will warm up and it's only for a little bit. I just said no. This just tells me I still have a long way to go before my mind reaches and understand of the desires of my heart.
Thanks for reading! I know this one was long. Hopefully I can post pictures and video soon with my new camera my hubby got me for Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment