More Confidence Through Fitness

Fitness means not only the acquisition of certain physical skills but the ability to withstand the energetic demands of everyday living. Certainly, a fitness enthusiast could reasonably expect to survive a sprint for the bus or a bout of early morning driveway shoveling. Unkind, indeed, would be the Fates to deny such rewards.

People sleep better, think better, digest better, and feel better when they are in shape.

Fit people are have more confident, too. There are very few medical studies in depth to prove these statements, for some reason research men have laid greater emphasis on other areas. But they are true. Talk with friends who regularly participate in sports, try some form of exercise yourself, the proof is there.

Corroborating evidence abounds. Labor leaders have long known this. One medical report, for example, chronicles the result of a specific labor-management dispute. The union representatives had, under duress, maintained a vigorous program of fitness. The management people had not. The wrangling lasted days, with long and wearying sessions. Stalemate after stalemate was the order of the discussions.

Slowly but surely the management men became fatigued. At that point the well-conditioned, union people were able to extract concessions previously not possible. Perhaps winning and losing or dollars and cents should have nothing in common with fitness, but they do.

The final fitness extra is a touchy subject. Not only do fit people have fun and gain satisfaction from their skills—they look good. Vanity and pride sometimes are not regarded as "nice." But they play a tremendously important and beneficial role in our society. They stimulate us to study more, work harder, give more freely, and look better. There are many ways to put a best foot forward. A clean, crisp, neat, trim appearance is one. Men want to appear more manly and women more feminine.

This is part of human nature. Looking better is fun. And it is "nice." Narcissism can be over¬done and often is. But we are not concerned with Muscle Beach. A little bit of honest pride in one's clothes, haircut, fingernails, and figure is socially acceptable. People spend time and money on their appearance, yet pretend they do not care. Nonsense! This is not an admission of a crime. Why not look better? And what easier or more economical way than through fitness?

Sports activities do have an effect on ego. G. Hambridge in his book Time to Live: Adventures in the Use of Leisure succinctly summarized this as follows:

The experience of the spectator is mild compared with that of the player, which is the reason games should be played, not watched from a grandstand. At the risk of uttering a blasphemy, I wish to remark that catching a fast ping-pong ball and returning it with precision gives a pleasure not so far removed from that a painter feels when he makes a good stroke with his brush on canvas.

That is one of the reasons why athletic games are so valuable for those of middle age and beyond. The game not only keeps the body supple and in "good tone"—which, after all, calisthenics would do; it subtly flatters the ego with
a sense of mastering new and difficult things. All of us need that kind of flattery on occasion. We get it in games no matter how modest the skill required.