There are several key “defenses” that I employed for the majority of my life before i saw the light (the light being a healthier, happier, more active lifestyle). For years, I felt the need to defend my lazy routine to the world but mostly to myself. Some of those “justifications” included:
- Exercise now? I’m tired.
- I already ate like crap the rest of the day so….
- I’ll do it tomorrow
- I’ll do it MONDAY
- YOLO
- I’m gonna die anyway… might as well die fat, happy, and un-deprived.
Sound familiar? Some of them were shared on my previous post, My Big FAT List of Misconceptions. I am writing today to focus on what I believe to be one of the most commonly used “defenses” (years into my journey, I now refer to them as EXCUSES). Drumroll, please… AND THE WINNER IS:
“I don’t have time”
First of all, I’m going to directly quote (approximately) THOUSANDS of awesomely-inspiring Pinterest pages and say “We all have the same number of hours in a day- decide how you want to use them”. This particular excuse can take on many forms and variations, some of which include:
“I have to spend time with my children- I don’t have time”
“I have to cook dinner”
“I won’t have time to shower after”
“I already have a busy day planned”
The list goes on. The best way to completely debunk and OVERRULE every one of those lame excuses that I, myself, have used countless times is to share a day in the life of someone who makes the time- and i guarantee you her life is a hundred times busier than yours.
Let me tell you a story about this woman I know. For the sake of anonymity, let’s call her… Connie.
Connie wakes up every weekday morning around 5:00am (that’s if she slept until then to begin with), preps breakfast for her three children, makes sure all three are dressed, lunches are packed, and ready for school. She then goes to a HIGHLY demanding full time job, rushes home to pick up kids from school bus (if she doesn’t have an evening meeting to attend), then busts her ass to put a healthy, home-cooked meal on the table (I’m telling ya, this woman doesn’t scrimp either- every meal is deliciously and thoughtfully prepared from SCRATCH). Once the homework is checked and family is happy and settled for the evening, she gives her husband a quick kiss and runs out the door at 8:00pm to get her evening cardio in at the gym. On the weekends, she’s at the gym at 7:00am, bright and early as they open their doors.
“It’s easier that way- so my personal time is taken care of in the morning before the kids wake up”.
She brings home or cooks breakfast for the family when she returns; grocery shops, and then prepares as many from-scratch meals on Sunday to make her week easier (after attending hours of church and choir rehearsals with the kids). Sunday evening falls, the process starts again. Connie used to tell me that she felt guilty going to the gym because it was selfishly taking away from her time with her family. It wasn’t until she made a routine of it that she realized that spending quality time on self-improvement wasn’t a selfish act. It was a small reward! It became something that improved her mood, her self-confidence, her being. How could that not have a positive effect on her family and life?
This modern goddamn superwoman has motivated my butt to get moving on more than one occasion, that’s for sure! If Connie finds the time to carve out of her hectic (and I mean HECTIC) schedule, why can’t you?
You have somewhere to be in the evening? Go in the morning. You don’t like to wake up early? There are 24 hour fitness centers out there. Everyone is different- you need to find a way to mold it into your life. Soon enough, it will become obligatory; you will finally transform your thoughts into “I need to exercise at least 3-4 days, so the easiest times would be…” and not “busy week- I’ll need to take a hiatus and pick it back up next week”. Spending time working on you should be made a priority and non-negotiable.
The point of this entry isn’t to scold you or make you feel guilty for not sweating at all this week (but really… if Connie can do it… for shame!) I’m begging you to look in the mirror and confront the truth: Have you spent as much time working on you as you deserve? If you carve out more time to invest in your personal human capital, you will reap the benefits almost immediately. Everyone will notice the positive change- you’ll be a better friend, lover, parent, or sibling.
Do you know why? Because you’ll finally begin to see yourself in the light that your loved ones have seen all along.
There’s my two cents for today. My love and respect to my personal superhero, Connie 😉
Here’s hoping you take some time for YOU this week!
