I really think I missed out on a lot by being a bookworm as a child. There were many summers when I would spend days at a time trying to see how many books I could read between breakfast and bedtime. Granted they were all Sweet Valley Twins and Beverly Cleary books (Ramona, etc) but for a young person, that was enough of a challenge, I think. I would ignore the sunshine, ignore my family as much as I could, and just escape into books. Because of that, I missed out on running and playing with the neighborhood kids and my brothers and sister (some of that I'm not too upset about, considering the few experiences I did have) and in general, I set myself up for a life of sedentary bliss. The one time I wanted to join a local soccer team with my best friend I couldn't because we didn't have the money. And I don't think it counts to be on the 7th grade volleyball team when the coach really never puts you in to play. I was on the Badminton team in high school...before you laugh, did you see the Olympic Badminton competition? Yeah, we were never that good, go ahead and laugh. Those are my early sporting experiences.
Then I get into college and find the joys of intramural sports. Girls can play flag football and be kinda rough. Or there was softball, volleyball, soccer, all very enjoyable. We were required to take a Phy Ed class and run 3 miles every semester - because it was required, I think that's what sapped all the interest and enjoyment out of it.
So now this year I can't seem to get enough of physical activity. I've been running as regularly as my schedule will permit, I played Ultimate Frisbee all this summer and loved it, and am currently in love with my cardio kickboxing class. Why? I don't know, because it feels so much better than sitting on my couch all night. Because as gross as it is to sit there and drip with sweat, it's also a great accomplishment.

Would I still have as much of a problem with asthma if I had been this athletic throughout my life? Would I have settled into having my mother's hips if I had had a more active childhood? Who knows. I guess it doesn't matter much anymore, just that I continue trying to improve my physical health. Don't know if I'll actually lose these hips, but at least I'm pretty sure I'm not going to die of a coronary on my couch in front of the tv from doing nothing all day, every day for the next 20 years.