Abs

                                              Abs and Such
     My astonishment holds no bounds at the emphasis our society has placed on flat stomachs, rock-hard abs, well-developed biceps and bums; who knows what other so far well-concealed areas are being considered for plumping up!
     The economy had better hold out, for no other reason than to keep the spas, gyms and workout areas open for zealous patrons.  Else, what will the plumpers do if the spas close?  How will they fill their hours now spent treading mills, pumping iron, jogging tracks, sweating profusely.  Oblivious to countless other participants surrounding them, they seem strangely remote and distant, yet in sync with some magical goal.   Watching them all I feel the unity in some common meditation, somehow bonded spritually, leaving onlookers
left out, hoping for some way to join this brotherhood without expending all that energy.
     I have participated in two spas in my lifetime.  They both offered a menu of outrageous physical experience, yet neither seemed to offer chances of companionship, friendship, social opportunities outside their sweat-permeated, dank, and to me, dreary confines.
At both spas I chose to use the pool, three times a week.  Were the other activities guaranteed that a hard, taut-muscled body would develop, the pool offered the opposite, a relaxing of muscles, loosening of tensions in the warm, supporting arms of water!  How outrageous if that?  The last pool offered not only mild exercise for arthritics, but a spontaneous burst of communal singing, with the chance of friendship offered, and, hard to believe, laughter!  Simply unthinkable!  Also:  we are urged to arrive a half an hour early for a quiet, pool-submerged meditation!
     My hope is that some of the millions who strive for body perfection will be able to make the ultimate transition from taut bodies to peaceful minds; one proven method is a warm water spa for graceful and comforting quiet, with occasional laughter thrown in!


                                                      My Body

     Lately I have been observing my body - not necessarily critically, in front of a full-length mirror - I am compelled to avoid that practice lately - as I think a teen-ager would, in utter awe of how my body is changing, affecting the fit of my clothes; at my powerlessness over the appearance of the tops and bottoms of my waistbands!  There is an extra roll - I hesitate to mention FAT - under my stomach that no amount of sucking in and stretching high will diminish.  My bra size has increased a full size cup, a much longed-for phenomenon in my younger days, but oddly cumbersome and unwelcome today.  My thighs are surprisingly holding the line somehow; they don't rub together or cause my slacks to rustle when I walk.  My wrists and ankles seem unchanged.
     I absolutely understand and hold as valid that if I dieted off ten pounds, my skin would hang in looser folds than it is already exhibiting.  So, there's no hope for it.  I must accept my body's changes, respect if for having held out for so long.  Without thought over the years, I have demanded it to comply with my often-times irrational needs.  If some inner parts of me are wearing and thinning out, far be it for me to fuss about some outer changes going on.
     My body and I are realizing we're in for the long haul.  What we once took for granted - flexibility, adaptability, willingness to change, our assumption that we will last forever - are subjects under more than occasional scrutiny these days, and worthy of any mutual compromise necessary.
     I consider that our shared, lofty, and maybe final goal!