Excuses...

After 26 years in the gym, I have heard a lot of excuses. "I don't have time." "I can't afford to go to the gym." "It's too hot." "I'm too tired." Blah, blah, blah. You make time for what is important, right? What can be more important than your health? Trust me, if you don't take care of you--how can you take care of anyone else?


The hunters are out in the woods, in the cold, before the sun comes up, waiting on something to walk by so they can shoot it--or--AT it. ha! Same with the fishermen--how many hours do they sit in the boat waiting for something to jump on the line? What time do you get up to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving? How much time do you shop in general? What shows on TV can you not miss this week? You HAVE time, you just need to MAKE time. If you don't make time for you, who will???


I always say that you get one shot with this body and you better make it count. You want it to last in good working order too--not broken down and falling apart! The better you take care of your body, the better it will take care of you. And all you mommies out there--how do you think you can tend to your children (husbands, boyfriends, etc.) if you don't have what you need for your body to work--food, sleep, exercise? I don't have children but I observe people. I think back to my childhood... My brother and I were both in Scouts, I was a competitive baton twirler, we played sports and were in the band, etc. My mother was always "Suzanne's Mom" or "Stephen's Mother" or "Paul's wife". She was always about everyone else. She passed away of inflammatory breast cancer in 2004. I feel really sad for her in that she never really did anything for Helen... I never saw her have a passion.


Grown ups need to take a step back and look at their lives. It all starts with health. First of all, if you don't have your health--nothing else matters. But, in order to have your health--you have to take care of you. That means eating right, getting enough rest, exercise. You have to give your body what it needs to do it's job. If you don't have you in order, how can you be effective in ANY other areas of your life? Your health (or lack of) transfers to EVERYthing. Another part of health is your spirit. You have to take care of that too. You need to feed your soul. You need time for you to unwind your mind from all the craziness in the world. Read a book, take a nap in the hammock (I prefer to read and then nap in the hammock), listen to some music, take a painting class, go to a wine tasting, go for a walk, chill out, do NOTHING. People really don't understand the necessity of that. You don't have to be doing something all the time, every minute of the day. People's lives are over scheduled now. You need a break to think about you. Spend some time with yourself. Sit on the porch and rock or swing... Take up a hobby, find your passion. Spend some time ON YOURSELF...


I don't know if you have noticed but we are heading down a very bad path here in America. The long term health problems caused by obesity alone are tremendous. We are all going to die one day, I just prefer to take a slower trip and enjoy life a little more. People are too stressed out, over scheduled, over weight, feeling bad, losing it... I invite you to take this opportunity to step back and reassess. Take a look at what is REALLY important. Make the choice to improve your mind/body/spirit. Find your passion. Choose YOU. How can you not???

NO EXCUSES! Just do it!