It Can Feel Like a Long Road

I have been working to get back into an exercise routine. I learned long ago that I am not an early morning gym attendee so I exercise later in the afternoon or at night. I feel better, I sleep better, everything just seems to ‘do’ better, but boy is being consistent a tough goal. As I get older I am reminded more and more that getting old is not for sissies.

One day of exercise feels great, day two is okay as you still feel a bit of momentum, day five is a hurdle and day eight can feel like you’re almost there but it can still feel like a long road. I was doing much better in August and September then we went on vacation and my routine was blown to bits.

Starting something new is fun and exciting, getting back into a wanted routine can feel good but not as exciting as it was the first time. So there is the need to rally the troops – all your emotions and all your energy – to get back into line with what you want to accomplish. Be it school, exercise, stopping a bad habit, starting a new job, moving to a new house, anything that is a change can feel daunting until you get it down to a habit.

Habits take twenty-one days to develop. It takes that long for your mind and body to see it as a routine and part of regular life, something that just happens everyday. When you stop the habit even for one day, you start those twenty-one days all over again. So patience and consistency helps. Take the thing you want to do and do it today. Don’t worry about tomorrow, tackle it one day at a time. The road is along and life is a marathon not a sprint. So do the thing you want to do today and celebrate today’s accomplishment; it can feel like a long road so celebrate your win and go to sleep. As Scarlet O’Hara said in Gone With the Wind, ‘Tomorrow is another day.”