Life’s little breaks

I have been staring at my computer screen for the last two hours. I need a break; I stretch my arms and lean back on my swivel chair, which extends with me to accommodate the stretch. Wow…that really feels good. Ten seconds was all it took, a stretch, a break…and back to work again.

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An intense cardio workout, and you finally get a water break, heart pounding, sweat pouring…no water tasted this sweet, ever!

You are busy cooking for guests, and when all the dishes are simmering, you go out on the balcony and take in a few deep breaths!

When you know you have worked-out hard during the week, and Sunday is your cheat day, and when you know you don’t have to count the steps or the calories…!

And just last night, we were at a friend’s place for dinner, and the conversation meandered to our childhood, and exams, and how after 2 to 3 hours of intensive study, we would treat ourselves to a few chapters of a new book that we were reading then!

Coming home after a holiday, and stretching out in the comfort of one’s own home -a known and loving space – and catching some shut eye!

While there are the big holidays and travelling, and long vacation breaks….it is these small, everyday breaks that keep us enthused, keep us going.

These breaks are the punctuation marks in our lives, where we pause, but briefly, and then get going again.

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Another Day Begins

I am on my morning walk.  I enjoy the cool air as it envelopes my face.  The Sun is still an orange tinge on the horizon.

I see other joggers and walkers.  Some are techie-joggers, they have devices strapped to their arms and their wrists, measuring various parameters.  They are on a mission, say their serious faces, burn, calorie, burn.

Cute little dogs are on their morning walks too, pausing here, sniffing there, enjoying the smells of dawn.  Their owners stretch themselves, sometimes walking, sometimes trotting with their pets.

The drone of vehicles has started on the main road, as I leave our building. Early morning office-goers, trim and proper, in their formal attire, well groomed and ready to take on the day, with their laptops and papers and smartphones.

School-going children waiting at the bus stops for their buses. Teens listening to music, the younger ones chattering away, some other ones still half-asleep, clinging to their moms.

The last-minute breakfast-munchers, quickly biting into a sandwich, as they get ready to take on their day.

One set of people going into the tube station, one set coming out, both sets in a hurry, smoking, eating, talking into their phones, but hurrying.

The newspaper vendor, doing brisk business, as everybody wants to know what’s happened in the world, while they slept on.

The caffeine-lovers, who sip large-size take-away coffees, as they walk.  I want my coffee too, but I have to finish my morning beat.

When I reach the stadium, all these thoughts vanish, as I watch people whizzing past, walking at alarming speeds, jogging and some even sprinting.  A few stretch, a few curl, a few twist, a few climb, a few hang….on the exercise bars.

I join the ‘serious‘ now. Meeting my fitness goals for the day. The Sun is up and about.  I finish. I guzzle water.

I head back home.  The frantic office-goers are now replaced by older folk, who are on their morning walk; men and women walk back, swinging their tennis or badminton rackets, after energetic games.

The vehicles are noisier, the Sun is warmer, the trees are greener, the wind is warm.  I reach home. I measure, I note.

I turn my attention to the rest of my day.