There is one point of special importance in connection with our exercise
and that is to cultivate the play spirit. You will never fully enjoy
your sports and you will never obtain all possible benefit from them
until you lose your dignity and learn how to play. Try to be glad that
you are alive and able to play these games. One great drawback to
American sports is the tendency to take them too seriously. There is too
much of strained effort involved in the desire to win the game at any
price. Keep yourself in a state of mind where you "see the fun." Though
"playing to win" may be commended, the real purpose of any game is the
fun and benefit that is secured therefrom whether you win or lose. There
have been cases when members of a boat crew or a football team have
actually cried over a lost game. Imagine the nerve strain involved in
taking athletics so seriously! It is splendid to win, but it should also
be pleasurable to lose to a worthy antagonist. Do not take your games
too seriously, but make them a laughing matter. Only by assuming this
attitude can you get the greatest possible benefits that can be
derived from games. The nature of your exercise does not matter so
long as there is that increased activity of the heart, lungs and other
organs which tends to improve the circulation throughout the entire
body. The exercise must insure deep breathing, and if a certain amount
of perspiration is induced it will be advantageous. First of all get
out-of-doors; find some exercise that appeals, some alluring attraction
which will take you away from the confinement of your home. Live as
much as you can in the open. If possible, try sleeping out-of-doors. Men
and women of today may be aptly compared to sensitive plants. We
are the devitalized product of the universal custom of coddling, and the
less we live within four walls, and the more we breathe the free
outdoor air, the stronger, healthier and more capable we become.
There is one outdoor exercise that we can all take without expense, and
it is by far the best when everything is considered. At least this
statement is true so far as the building of vitality and endurance is
concerned. I refer to walking. This is an exercise that can be
made decidedly vigorous if desired. And no matter what health-building
regimen you may follow, a certain amount of walking is
essential to maintaining the highest degree of physical vigor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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