Time and Money

There was a conversation this morning about making time for exercise. Someone remarked that Barack Obama works out for 45 minutes every single day and if he can make time for exercise it is shameful that we ordinary citizens cannot. There were times when I have also followed similar reasoning, only to end up feeling quite low about my seemingly bad time management skills. Off-late equipped with more information the way my mind rationalizes has changed...
Here is a story from Hindu mythology that will hopefully help make my point. Narada, the chief devotee of Lord Vishnu grew quite haughty about the extent of his devotion to Vishnu. He goes to Vishnu one day asking him to declare Narada as his best devotee. Vishnu disgarees and takes him down to earth to the family of a poor farmer. The duo decide to spend a day with the poor farmer. The farmer spends his whole day from dawn to dusk toiling in his fields to bring home a small meal for his family. In the name of Vishnu, he is happy to share the meager meal they had with the guests at home. The next morning Narada takes the farmer aside to find out how often he worships Vishnu. The farmer says he is thankful to Vishnu for everything he has got and makes it a point to pray to him before he starts his day and at the end of the day. Narada is quite puzzled and upset with Vishnu and asks Vishnu how the farmer's chant a couple of times a day matches Narada's devotion. Vishu does not respond immediately but makes Narada go around a mountain with a pot of water on his head with the condition that he cannot let the pot drop. Narada accomplishes this with with some difficulty and a lot of concentration. Now Vishnu asks him how many times during this trip around the mountain Narada thought of him and Narada replies, "hardly once" because he was so focussed on the hard task at hand. Now Vishnu smiles and tells Narada that it is easy enough to think of him all the time when he has nothing better to do but the fact that the farmer can find time to think of him amidst his very difficult day is what makes him a better devotee.
Getting back to the point, Obama is not unique in his devotion to exercise. Bush is known for spending an hour exercizing every day. Reagan spent an hour hand replying to the letters he got. In fact, he spent a good year of his presidency at his ranch near Santa Barbara (not being a big fan of Camp David). Bill Gates and a lot of other CEOs are known for being very particular about their hobbies and their exercicise routines. In fact in that high rolling society, it is hard to survive without some predictable time everyday spent on something else. However,I would dare anyone to check with people at the lowest socio-economic stratum : someone struggling to make ends meet, unable to buy health insurance for their children and probably stradling a couple of jobs. Ever think how many of these people find time for an exercise routine? When you are all consumed by a powerful high paying job engulfed in a luxurious life, it is a no brainer to look for something which can help you "break" from the stress. On the contrary, doing the same when your very survival is at risk, when your very basic needs are not met and when your ego is crushed is a whole other story. When you do not have dishes to do, laundry to fold or that broken sprinkler to fix, your options are truly endless. I know I am not at either ends of this spectrum and it seems easy enough to extrapolate that my execrise routine is also somewhere in between. So I don't need to feel too bad right? I am exactly where I need to be...
So with all due respect to Obama and the other multi-miliionaries out there who have committed an hour of their day to the treadmill, while I am quite okay to tip my hat and give them credit for their health consciousness,don't blame me for not being blown over...I just spent my past hour cooking and cleaning for my family!!