How Public Recreation Benefits Public Health

Parks make life better.
     I saw this on a building on my way to school. It was in colorful letters, playfully placed against the building.
     This building was in a newly updated park. I haven't been to it, but from the road I've seen a skate park, a pool, awesome shelters, and there's probably new play equipment too.
     I haven't taken a good look, either. But the most activity I've seen there is at the skate park. Lots of kids in helmets with boards and wheels under their feet, all rolling around the curves of the concrete playground. Probably for their first time, probably there to impress the others watching, probably because the parents wanted to see their kid become active. Probably, I wouldn't know.
     But most importantly, these kids are there to have fun. They are enjoying themselves, and the atmosphere, and the skill building, and the exercise, and the excitement. It's natural, all of us want to experience these feelings in a comfortable place.
     And of course, there are benches for the parents to sit at. Watching their kids have fun. Talking. Conversing, sharing. Laughing. Reading. Listening.
     There's other places to be too. The Strand; a favorite of my mom's. It's a strip of concrete stretching from Hermosa Beach to El Porto, separating the sandy beaches from oceanfront properties. It's basically a sidewalk to the ocean.
     Thousands of people walk, bike, run, skate, and otherwise move through here. People come here to enjoy themselves and the sun while moving about. North or South, either way. To look at the houses, or to look at the muscles, or to look at the babes. Walk with someone, or run alone. Bring the dog if you want. It's free, it's public, it's fun.
     It's a place where people enjoy being alive. You'd almost never find a sourpuss there. It's busy, but it's relaxing. It's sometimes hot, but has a cool coastal breeze. There's an old fart from time to time, but mostly you'll find bikinis and dresses bouncin' around. It's a place of near bliss.
     Whether or not it's a park, whether or not it is an intended recreational area, people will find their way there. Build it and they will come. They seek pleasure. They seek a place of comfort, to be in their zone, to get away, to return to a state of self fulfillment.
     People seek happiness. Give people a place to be happy, because happy people make other people happy. Happiness is what moves us forward. Happy people... are happy.