The cracking of a loud alarm echoed throughout the bedroom causing Jacob to stir from his slumber. A fog of exhaustion clouded his mind as the ringing drilled into his ears. He stirred, rolling onto his side only to squint at the red glowing numbers belching out the mind wrenching sound of the alarm. He grumbled to himself and called out, “Sam!”

No response came from his digital assistant. Irritation cut through the fog as Jacob growled, “Hey, Sam!”

A digital tone beeped from his phone, barely audible over the pressing alarm. The smooth and deep voice of his digital assistant replied, “Yes, Sir?”

“Alarm, snooze!” yelled Jacob.

Silence fell upon Jacob’s ears when Sam said, “Five-minute snooze set on ‘Jogging Time’.”

Jacob rolled onto his back letting the peace of silence and sleep embrace him. His brain was still half asleep but bubbled with images from his first foray into Choice of Fate. His successes and challenges drifted through his waking mind. The last image that flitted through was of his cramped calf muscle and the wave of exhaustion that had knocked him out the night before.

He opened his eyes to the dark room filled with only the dull glow of red from his alarm. He slowly sat up in his bed and stretched his arms and torso. He kicked his legs over the side of the bed and stood up to continue stretching.

As he was stretching his arms he recalled the advice from the technician who installed the M.U.C. Flexibility would apparently allow for more maneuvers using the full immersion system he had purchased. With this memory in mind, Jacob attempted some simple toe touches.

He immediately groaned as he felt the tightness in his lower back, calves and behind his knees screaming in refusal to stretch. He barely managed to touch his ankles for ten seconds before a frustrated grunt escaped him on his return to a standing position. Ok, I didn’t think I was that out of shape.

“Hey, Sam!” called Jacob to the darkness.

“Yes, Sir?” came the response with the digital beep.

“Add event to calendar titled, ‘Flexibility training’. Repeat daily at 6:05 A.M.” Commanded Jacob.

“Event ‘Flexibility training’ added to calendar as a daily event for 6:05 A.M.” confirmed the digital assistant.

Jacob returned to his toe touches turned ankle touches with the simple goal of loosening up his muscles as much as he could manage. He finished three sets before his alarm blared to life again causing him to jerk up from his recent attempted toe touches. He stomped over to the alarm and turned the switch off silencing the alarm. He was just about to continue another set of stretching when Sam pinged his phone and said, “Event reminder for ‘Flexibility training’.”

Jacob let out a laugh and said, “Thank you, Sam.”

“My pleasure, Sir!” came the automated reply.

Jacob flipped the light switch in his room flooding it with light while squinting to let his eyes adjust to the new brightness. He walked over to his closet and dressed in some black basketball shorts and a grey t-shirt. He grabbed a pair of ankle socks as he exited his closet and threw them onto his bed.

He stopped by his bed in contemplation as he stared at his socks. I should maximize every opportunity to exercise. Start with trying to put on your socks while balancing on one foot. That should help build my balance.

He picked up his socks and attempted to balance on one foot. Immediately he lost his balance and had to brace himself against the wall. He frowned at himself and tried again only to fall against the wall. Come on! This should be simple, control your center of gravity. If your center is supported, then you won’t fall.

He focused on one foot and slowly lifted the other. He imagined a pearl at the center of his core to represent his center of gravity. As he shifted in various directions, he imagined the orb shifting in the same direction. Slowly he grew accustomed to his center of gravity swaying outside the area supported by his foot.

A smile split his face as he leaned his weight and bent his knee to draw his center over the area supported by his foot. He bent his knee further and shifted more to his left as he brought up his right foot. His left leg shook with strain to maintain his balance as he quickly slipped on his right ankle sock.

He slammed his right foot down shifting his weight between both feet just before his left leg muscles could give out. His smile remained wide despite the effort he had expended just to put on one sock. Small victories. One step at a time. Just as you preach in class, “Everything takes time and practice. To become an expert then require you to take one step after the other so that you can transform that practice into an expertise.”

Confident in what to expect, he shifted his weight and bent his right knee to balance his center over the area of his foot. He purposefully took his time on his left sock to maintain a balance between the strain he put on his left leg with his right leg. When his right leg began to shake unsteadily he slowly returned his left foot to the ground.

He walked out of his bedroom flipping the light switch off as he entered the living room. These lights he left off as well as he moved to the foyer. He bent down and grabbed his running shoes that he normally only wears on Fridays for school spirit days. Again, he practiced maintaining his balance on one foot as he slipped both shoes onto his feet.

He looked at his untied shoe laces and was about to drop to one knee when he thought about his lack of flexibility on the toe touches earlier. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he straightened his legs and attempted to tie his shoes like he was doing toe touches. He had to suck in his gut and lace his shoes quickly to avoid buckling under the strain, but he managed.

His heart was already beating at an elevated rate causing him to laugh with mirth. Well, I guess I’ve already taken care of my warm up.

He snatched his keys from the nearby counter and stepped outside to a cool breezed morning. The first hints of sunlight shone over the tops of the neighborhood’s rooftops. He turned around to his door and turned his house key to lock the door.

He stepped out onto the side-walk and stretched his arms out towards the rays slicing through the early dawn shadows. He stretched every fiber of his being imagining he could grasp the light if he could just reach far enough. He chuckled to himself as he released the stretch. I should have been doing this far sooner than now. The morning rays and cool breeze is invigorating. He glanced down the west end of the road. How about a light jog to the neighborhood park? That’s somewhere between a mile or two.

He nodded to himself and broke out into a slow jog. One minute into the jog and he could already feel the strain on his knees followed by the drumming of his heart and heavy breathing. To aid his discomfort, he jogged on the grass rather than the sidewalk. He slowed his pace slightly and breathed slowly through his nose holding each breath for a heartbeat before exhaling through his mouth.

A few minutes later, he jogged at a steady pace with less discomfort in his knees and more control over his breathing and heartrate. His mind focused on this rhythm he developed. Step, step, breathe, step, step, beat, exhale, and repeat. For ten minutes he was in a blissful zone of focused jogging and breathing.

All of that focus came to a crashing halt when he turned the corner. Across the street jogged a tanned woman in her late twenties. She was trim and fit in her black yoga pants and white tank top. Her raven hair was pulled into a tight pony tail that bobbed from side to side. She barely spared Jacob a glance as she pulled further ahead of him towards the park.

That one glance made Jacob self-conscious of his weight. Images of his stomach fat bouncing in time with his jog flashed through his mind causing him to falter. He came to a stop and felt a burn both from the exercise and his embarrassment surge through him. His lungs suddenly burned from the need for oxygen.

He threw his hands on top of his head and attempted to catch his breath. He watched the younger woman fade away in the distance, his face reddening with every passing moment. Anger flared through him at his embarrassment. You’re supposed to jog all the way to the park. The whole point is to get in better shape and yet you allow yourself to lose focus!

He took a calming breath and slowly exhaled. He took a few steps in a circle and looked to the park up ahead. Remember, one step at a time. You may not be where you want to be now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get there with time. If you don’t want to be embarrassed by your form, then take the necessary measures to change that about yourself. Like finishing your jog despite what you or others may think!

Jacob clapped his hands together to refocus his attention. He took slow breaths in through his nostrils and exhaled after a beat of the heart through his mouth. Settled, he fell back into the rhythm from before. Step, step, and breathe.

He reached the park in a few minutes and allowed himself a break. There he walked to the covered picnic areas by the grass fields and pond. The water reminded him of how dry and arid his mouth felt. A quick scan of the area located a drinking fountain that he walked over to quench his thirst.

As he gulped down the water he heard someone walk behind him. A melodic care-free feminine voice asked, “Thirsty much?”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Mumbled Jacob as he backed away from the fountain and turned to see who was speaking. He tripped over himself when he saw that the speaker was the same woman he had seen earlier.

She paid no attention to him and stepped past to drink from the fountain. He couldn’t help himself from looking at her closer taking note of her symmetric features and neatly plucked eyebrows. As she finished drinking from the fountain, he looked away in embarrassment. He became acutely aware of the sweat stains dripping from his neck, back and armpits.

He started to walk away when she called to him, “So, you a new jogger in our neighborhood?”

He paused at the question and fought the urge to run away. He turned to face her and flashed a smile as he said, “New to jogging, first day in fact, but not new to the neighborhood.”

She returned the smile spreading her petit pink lips. “Well, welcome to the jogging scene! I’m Alyssa by the way.” She said while she extended her hand for a shake.

Conscious of his sweat, Jacob attempted to wipe away any from his palm on his basketball shorts before shaking her hand. “Jacob. I live about a mile or two down from the park.” He said pointing in the direction he had come.

“Nice! That would make for a great warm up jog distance before a run around the neighborhood.” Exclaimed Alyssa.

Jacob reddened and broke eye contact as he mumbled, “Yeah… A warm up…”

She caught his embarrassment and hurriedly said, “No, no, no! I meant for me. I run marathons and spoke without thinking. It’s ok to start with what you can do and build up from there step by step!”

Jacob smiled as his embarrassment washed away. He looked her in her hazel eyes and said, “I tell my students the same thing with math. It’s both nice and funny to hear that said from someone else for a change.”

She laughed and waved her hands in the air gesturing to their surroundings. “Well the truth is everywhere around us. Most people just get so caught up in everything else that they miss these things.” Said Alyssa when her smart watch beeped loudly. “Shoot! I’ve gotta run now or my time will be ruined. See you around Jacob!”

She waved lightly and turned into a run leaving him alone and bewildered by the encounter. He turned back towards his route home and began a slow walk with a pep in his step. He chuckled to himself thinking. I didn’t need to be so self-conscious after all. She ended up being nice and understanding too. Here I was getting distracted by the what if’s instead of focusing on what I need to do!