Let's shake things up this year by thinking "Shape Up" BEFORE New Year's Day. Why wait to make a resolution to get into shape or to keep in shape? Take action now!
Shape Up Rhode Island begins early registration on December 15, 2008. It's an affordable gift ($20) you can put on your wish list if your have a job but your employer isn't offering to pay this year. [It's a very good investment for businesses, though ~ will build morale and make a healthier work force.] And exercise is one way to life your spirits in these somewhat depressing times.
It's the third year for this 12-week competition of teams, who in 2008 lost more than 30,000 pounds and walked more than 5 billion steps. Maybe your family will form a team (you need 5 members to make a team, I think). Something to discuss at Holiday parties and gatherings. Last year, 12,000 Rhode Islanders participated. The organizers hope for 20,000 participants in 2009 for the competition, which goes from February to May. You get a pedometer! You have a good time with family, friends ,and colleagues! And by May, you will be more fit than you are now.
The Providential Gardener encourages you to sign up, or at least look at the program and make your own commitment to get out there to walk and enjoy our beautiful state. We have lots of state parks and forests, and plenty of local parks as well (Citywide Green lists more than 100 parks in the City of Providence, for instance), to say nothing of Audubon nature preserves, Norman Bird Sanctuary, and National Wildlife Refuges. And don't forget the beaches ~ 400 miles of shoreline, a lot of it walkable. RI Greenways and RI Farmways list other places to explore. Cemeteries are interesting and beautiful places to walk ~ Rhode Island has about 3,000 of them, some of which are also arboreta. Then there are the land trusts, well-kept campuses, school running tracks and fields, the grounds of historic homes, bike paths.... What are we doing inside???
We humans forget that we are also "The Environment" ~ we usually talk about "The Environment" as something out there and then there's "Us." But our bodies are mostly water, we're alive as long as our lungs fill up with air every few seconds, and we return to earth when we die. Let's get to know ourselves as part of the natural LIVING world. It's a healthy way to understand who we are.
P.S. You may be getting lots of emails and snail mails asking you to donate to nonprofits at this time of year. We have a lot of environment-oriented nonprofits in Rhode Island ~ for instance, Farm Fresh RI, which works hard to increase the number of Rhode Island farmers. Don't throw out every letter and email from these folks who care for Rhode Island's natural resources -- be a Santa to one or more if you possibly can. These green spaces make everyone healthier. The Shape Up RI website reports on how "Parks Can Cut Health Gap between Rich and Poor."
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