Juggle While Running – Why Do You Do It?

While joggling along the wet, muddy sidewalks of Chicago listening to the latest episode of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, I passed a women who looked at me quizzically and asked,

“Why do you juggle and run?”

Without missing a beat I turned around (still juggling of course) ran backwards, smiled and said, “Because I can and it makes me happy.”

She nodded with a smile and I spun back around to continue my forward joggling. But the encounter reminded me of something I wrote on a plane ride to California. It was a mind map of all the reasons that I joggle. Each one could be a post itself, but here is a simple list. Note: These are not in order of importance, just in order of how I thought them up.

44 Reasons to Run, Juggle and Joggle

I juggle while running because…

1. I can
2. It makes me happy
3. Makes me healthier
4. It’s fun!
5. Helps me feel (joy, pain, soreness, euphoria)
6. Helps me lose weight
7. It helps give my life purpose
8. It shows me my limits
9. It’s easy to get started
10. It makes me better in other sports (volleyball, softball, basketball)
11. It teaches me humility
12. It’s cheap transportation
13. It helps the environment
14. Makes it easier to sleep
15. Let’s me eat more food
16. It entertains people
17. It makes people smile
18. It provides fresh, new experiences
19. Helps cure a hangover
20. It inspires people
21. It impresses people
22. It allows me to raise money for charity
23. It gives me material for this joggling blog.
24. It helps me stand out
25. It gets me in newspapers and on TV & radio
26. It improves my juggling ability
27. It improves my running ability
28. Gives me time to listen to podcasts
29. It helps me come up with new ideas/inventions
30. It helps me work though problems
31. It’s challenging
32. It’s my talent
33. It has gotten me some great juggling bags from Gballz.
34. It gets me outside
35. Gives a sense of accomplishment
36. It helps improve my brain
37. It improves my focus
38. It’s a good story when meeting new people
39. It’s helped make new friends
40. It provides time to read books and learn
41. It allows me have some alone time
42. It lets me explore the city
43. It keeps me motivated
44. It allows me to maximize the use of the time I’ve got left

I could keep going but 44 is my favorite number and I’ve pretty much covered everything on my mind map.

So now I ask you JYAJ community, why do you walk, run, juggle or joggle?