I would rather exercise than read a newspaper. — Kim Alexis

I would rather exercise than read a newspaper.

Author: Kim Alexis

Insight: There's something quietly radical about prioritizing your own body over the world's noise. Most of us feel guilty about this choice—we're supposed to stay informed, to know what's happening, to care about everything all at once. But Kim Alexis is pointing at something real: sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is step away from the flood of information and tend to yourself instead. The tension here isn't really about exercise versus news. It's about recognizing that your mental and physical state actually determines how you show up everywhere else. When you're depleted, stressed, and overstimulated from scrolling through headlines, you're less present with the people around you, less creative at work, less able to think clearly about the problems that actually matter to your life. Exercise—or any practice that grounds you in your body—cuts through that noise and resets your nervous system in a way that reading about world events rarely does. This doesn't mean ignoring what's important. It means understanding that you can't pour from an empty cup, and that being informed is only useful if you're in a state of mind to actually process it. Sometimes the most civic-minded thing you can do is protect your own peace first.