All grown ups should claim a sport of their own, consider themselves athletes of some sort.
Not because exercise is “good for you” or to secure bragging rights or ’26.2′ bumper stickers. It’s just that when you ask kids to tell you about themselves, they invariably say “I like soccer” or “I play lacrosse.” Kids often quantify their sense of self through such broad characteristics, psychologists say. And we, as parents, sign them up for sports because it creates confidence. Works off energy. Fosters social skills. Builds muscle. Because it’s fun.
So why stop? To counter the sedentary, time-crunched, thumb-tapping elements of our lives, we can pick a sport (a live one, if possible): be it kayaking, or bowling, or yoga, or dancing, or Zumba, or hula hooping, or kickball, or skiing, or basketball, or tennis, or running, or swimming, or fishing, or walking, or soccer . . .
Then we can, when people ask us about ourselves, say “I play such and such,” and be forever young.
