by:  Bill Muldoon

There is a question that begs to be answered, what motivates people who don’t look like they need to exercise at all, but do exercise regularly and have for quite some time? After all these people seem to be fit and many look as if they don’t need to lose another ounce much less 10 or 15 pounds. Why do these people continue to pound the pavement, visit the gym, take the classes, jump the ropes and continually pursue physically challenging endeavors? The answer is not to lose some pounds, inches or look good for their 20th class reunion, the real answer is that they are driven by a higher purpose.

Now when I say higher purpose I am not referring to any one thought, religion, book or way of life. I am referring to the hundreds of thousands of reasons people have to pursue fitness at high levels for most of their lives. A higher purpose is anything that goes beyond the aesthetics of fitness, even beyond the social definition of fitness, a higher purpose is something that has the ability to drive a human not for a few weeks or months, but for decades, alas, to the end of life itself.

After lifting my first vinyl weight set in the seventies, running my first 5k in the eighties and training my first client in the nineties, I have found my own higher purpose (s) that keeps me going and going. At almost forty my youngest child is almost two…I have a long way to go to keep up with him and his two brothers ages four and six. I love to surf and fish and want to pursue these endeavors into my sixties, seventies and beyond. These are my higher purposes and dear to me, but for someone else they may make no sense at all. That is the beauty of pursuing a fit and healthy lifestyle with a higher purpose. It is as diverse as the individuals that embrace it as a way to a better life.

It has been said that one man’s passion is another man’s poison. It is true. What drives you to do the things you do may make another person ask “what’s the purpose?” Well, it is your purpose and if you want to get into a fitness routine, enhance the quality of your life, find your higher purpose and forget the social standards and scores and look toward your goals on a higher plane.

Yes, the pounds and inches may have made you take that first step, but it will be a higher purpose that keeps you going in the right direction for the rest of your life. So look deep inside and picture yourself many years down the road, it really won’t matter how you look, but can you do the things you love to do at the level you enjoy? What is your higher purpose?