It’s exactly the reason why I haven’t posted a blog in three months.
Did you ever take up that diet and exercise program and “turn over” that “new leaf”?…
Life was great. You went to the gym. Or you got on that piece of exercise equipment that was designed by the Marquis de Sade (that you bought at 4 a.m. off some info-mercial with the enticement of a 90-day money-back free trial test drive – that you could never get your money back for and that eventually turned into a 12-easy-payments-of-$99.95-clothes-rack-hanger-drier).
For awhile (say, six months… or six weeks?) will power overcame inertia. You passed up that doughnut in the break room. You ate a grilled salmon salad while those around you did the super nova burger with deep fat cosmic crispy chili cheese fries. You were in the zone. You dreamed about getting up and blasting that mechanical bionic butt-buster for an hour of aerobic agony. The thought of those endorphins was just intoxicating. You could just imagine those melting pounds washing down that shower drain with all the salt and sweat of your last session of self-flagellating self-righteous self-denial.
Then life happened. (it never quit, actually). In reality you had just spent six months cramming what might otherwise have been a worthwhile life-enhancing activity into an already overloaded and poorly-prioritized schedule. You found out that you couldn’t just cut off one end of the blanket and sew it onto the other end; if you made room for exercise without a real re-setting of priorities (“I’ll just go to ‘Fitness-R-Us’ after work every day”), something else had to suffer… (like your spouse?).
It’s all about PRIORITIES.
Thus, these pointers: First, exercise and proper diet need to be real priorities in your life… not just add-ons. Otherwise they will fall away quickly when life happens. Apart from proper rest, earning a living, your spiritual life, and nurturing your primary relationships, maintenance of the body through proper nutrition and exercise should be the highest priority. If your earth suit is not properly maintained (that would be your body), then the things you do wearing it (that would be everything) will suffer.
A second thing I counsel all my patients to do regarding exercising the body is: “Exercise should not be punishment. Find something you like to do (a lot) that doesn’t feel like exercise, the doing of which gives you a workout… then do it regularly.” If you have made enjoyable exercise a priority and made proper adjustments in other things to make real room for it, then this fun activity is less likely to be abandoned when the realities of life set in. By the way, an accountability partner in this project is a big help.
So it is with Blogging and Jogging. Very similar, those two. Missed my usual Blog (substitute “JOG”) time. Let it slide. After all, life was overloaded. Two days turned into three, then four, then a week, then three months. So hard to start up again. It hurts. Lost so much ground. Must Blog (substitute “JOG”) today. It’s been too long. But I’m too (pick one): a) tired, b) busy, c) distracted, d) overloaded e) all of the above. Not high enough on my priority list. Will do it next week.
Does the story sound familiar?
Rearrange. Reassess priorities. (By the way, this process never stops). And do it.
I’m struggling with life just like you.