My husband, who is a fan of history, reminded me of the old Chinese curse (yes, curse): “May you live in interesting times.” Indeed, these times are nothing if not interesting. Funny word, “interesting,” with a long tradition of being the substitution of choice when the user actually means “lame,” “horrible” or “wretched.”

Being a tireless optimist, I prefer to look for “opportunity” in the “interesting.” Sure, maybe most of us aren’t planning our customary vacations this summer or upgrading to the latest high-def digital wonder on the market, but we have something in our favor that many of us haven’t seen for a while.

Lack.

And lack, I think, is opening doors.

Consider your front door, for example. When you had many pennies at your disposal, you could move swiftly from your front door to your car door with no thought of the in-between. You could take in a $10 movie, a $40 dinner or $60 of gas at the pump. What if you skipped the car door and instead just dwelled on that first step that took you from the confines of your safe home to the adventure of the outside world?

One step after another, as it turns out, leads us to wonders in our neighborhoods that we never bothered to notice: The cute kid that plays with his dog after school, the elderly gentleman that tends his garden even in the winter, and the runner that we just now realize has been running for a long time. Has it been every day? Look at that guy. He’s happy. He’s free. And he’s not spending any money right now. And neither are you as you venture further on foot.

Upon further research of the curse, I learned it was actually the predecessor of another curse: “May you find what you are looking for.” Huh. Maybe the one thing we can gain from these interesting times is better health – right outside our front door, one step at a time. Exercise gives a certain reward. And that will be far more valuable than anything we lack.

Patty Swedberg is the owner of Raise the Bar Athletic Training (www.weraisethebar.com), which is based in the Covington area.