Why I'm CHOOSING To Make My Life Harder

My chosen Genius Hour Project is all about staying physically fit and active, even when my life gets crazy. I have chosen to train to run a half marathon. This is no easy feat. Though I try to run at least four times a week, the busyness of life with the stresses of school, volunteering, work, and maintaining a social life can sometimes get in the way. In order to run a half marathon I am going to have to commit a fair bit of time to training. I am okay with this though, because what motivated me to start working out in the first place a few years ago was the value I placed on having an active lifestyle.

With all of this said, when I was looking through my Twitter feed this week, I saw a tweet that really interested me about a high school runner who shoveled a pathway around the track at his school so that he could continue to train. When reading this, I couldn't help but think how inspiring it was that this runner was willing to spend an hour shoveling just so that he could get his run in for the day. He was determined to run outside, instead of on the treadmill and the motivation to run he exhibited was so clear. Here is the link to the article about this student: http://wapo.st/2kF6J5m

After talking to my dad about the tweet, he told me about a doctor who created a movement entitled "Make Your Day Harder." Dr. Mike Evans believes that in contemporary times, the culture that we have created is one in which we are constantly sedentary. He advocates for movement and staying active in a time when everything is made easier for us (We have remotes that can turn on our TV so why get up off the couch? We have online shopping so who needs to go walk around a mall?) He states that medical research shows that people in this generation are living longer, but also suffer from more chronic disease, obesity, and lower self-rated health. His mission is to prove to people that maybe EASIER isn't really BETTER! Instead, we can make our days harder so that we are moving more throughout the day and staying active. His website gives readers tips for how to change their day-to-day life so that there are no excuses and people are staying active.

For more information on the movement you can visit the website at http://www.makeyourdayharder.com/about OR you can watch the video below about making your day harder.

DocMikeEvans (2013, September 3). Let's make our day harder [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whPuRLil4c0

This movement has inspired me to do what I can to make my day and my life harder. I am motivated to be active in my day-to-day life. I can do this by making small tweaks during my day to get active, but also workout, run, and train when I can as well. The "Make Your Day Harder" movement is one that I will constantly keep in mind when working on my Genius Hour Project, as being an active individual was one of the key reasons I began to work out in the first place. I look forward to training for my half marathon and CHOOSING to make my day harder, every day.