Today is Back-to-Reality Day. No more sitting around the table stuffing ourselves. No more gatherings of extended family from out of town for a while. No more all play and no work. Today, reality comes crashing back. The daily routine is back in motion.

Feeling refreshed after a few days off and relaxing, I rationalized whether I should exercise this morning to work off the extra calories ingested the past few days. Then I read my calendar’s statement today:

“I don’t even know how this word came into being: “aerobics.” I guess gym instructors got together and said, ‘If we’re going to charge ten dollars an hour, we can’t call it “jumping up and down.'” — Rita Rudner

That put a smile on my face. My shins are already sore from walking so much Friday at the After Thanksgiving Sales. Maybe it wasn’t jumping up and down, but it was much walking to and from and standing in lines. Doesn’t that count?

Do you ever find that we want to change a word because we don’t like how it sounds? “Control” sounds as if we’re headstrong dictators. So we prefer “Take Charge Individuals.” That has an air of leadership qualities. “Big Spender” sounds frivolous, but “Just Appreciates Quality” makes us sound responsible in our expenditures. “Opinionated” gives off a harsh feeling, but “Firm in Beliefs” sounds grounded.

The bottom line is, we can paint something any way we want, but it doesn’t hide what’s within. We end up only fooling ourselves.

Perhaps I need to go do some jumping up and down, or lift some heavy things until my muscles throb. Not as appealing I must say, but it’s the truth. I know I’ll feel better when I’m done.