Right now, we in society need sharper thinking and more creative brain power than we’ve ever needed before. We need to ‘think’, to ‘imagine’ and to ‘create’ a better future. Regular exercise will give us the advantage.
It’s said that we live in an age of change. In this decade it takes only two days to create the amount of new information that it took all of civilisation to create from the beginning of time until now. To cope with this we not only need ‘fit’ bodies, but we need fit ‘minds’.
In a news article this year, scientists gave a deadline of only EIGHT years for the world to make enough progress on emissions, for us to be able to reverse global warming. Right or wrong, give or take a few years, this is an extremely short amount of time.
Changes this writer has seen over the last twelve months are polar bears drowning with the melting of ice, bears in Russia advancing in to suburban towns, and Kangaroos in Australia advancing into human settlements. We’ve seen more extreme weather with records being broken.
We’ve seen a vast increase in electric cars although this may not be the answer – hybrids or even hydrogen may be a wiser alternative. We’ve seen an increase in solar power, although a better, more effective, lower cost alternative would be preferable. And the public has responded to a massive social media publicity campaign drawing attention to waste in our oceans. Our supermarkets have thrown out single use plastic bags, and we’re all taking our own bags to shop.
There are animal species threatened with extinction. In February this year scientists warned that 40% of the world’s insect species (like the Monarch Butterfly) are threatened with extinction. The reasons given are urbanisation, climate change, intensive agriculture, and pollution caused by pesticides and fertilisers.
Over a century ago philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche advised ‘Sit as little as possible. Do not believe any idea that was not born in free movement, in which the muscles do no revel.’
All of the challenges highlighted above are opportunities begging to be solved. And the answer to any one of these doesn’t need to come from someone else, it might just happen to come from YOU. Regular exercise will oxygenate your brain, pump up your memory, and sharpen your mind in preparation of what is to come.
