I found the following quote. It is a slight paraphrasing of the original that appears in Bill Phillips’ Body For Life, a fantastic and important book.
Jamie & Barry were brothers. One day Barry dove into a lake, hit a rock & broke his neck, paralyzing him from the neck down. “It was a tragic accident that, as you might imagine, has taken a lot of healing to cope with. Jamie explained to me that one day he was talking with Barry about the difficulty he was experiencing trying to get in shape. He told his brother, ‘I can’t stand running on the treadmill or lifting weights. I just hate it!’ To which Barry responded, ‘Jamie, I’d give anything in the world to run on a treadmill. I’d give anything in the world to flex the muscles in my legs–to feel my arms getting stronger–to feel them move. I’d give anything to have the CHOICE that you have–to move, to lift, to run…but I don’t have that choice. If you won’t do it for yourself, Jamie, do it for me.’ Jamie was speechless. He told me he never felt so selfish in his life. How could he complain to his brother, who can’t even raise his hand, that exercising is an inconvenience, that moving the body is a ‘pain’? Jamie told me that was the turning point for him, and he has never missed a workout since.”
If we are lucky to have the choice to do it, what are we when me make the choice not to?