"What you are really saying is that you're not willing to make time. You aren't assigning enough importance to the increased fitness, well-being, and improved control over anxiety you could gain from exercise. The problem is not a matter of time but one of priorities." p. 115, The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, 5th Ed., Edmund J. Bourne.
Regarding ANY health habit: I don't feel like it. I forgot. I am not having fun.
Well - no one ever promised you would only have to do the fun stuff. As a child, I was not fond of brushing my teeth, going to church, or having to clean my room. However, not taking care of body, soul, and environment was NEVER a choice. Now, I am overweight (to call it like it is - obese in medical terms, fat in societal terms). I can lose weight or I can die early. I can understand how important balance is to my soul and grow, or I can neglect this consideration and continue to tell myself negative things. I can walk a bit, consume less, and help out the environment, or I can continue to be a drain on more resources than is my share.
The truth is we do what we tell ourselves we deserve. We do what we value.
The question is - what am I going to do today. With this moment. With this choice...
Comments on my personal FB page to this post - names and links removed to protect privacy. It seems I did not explain myself well at all.
- its not always that easy tho.x
- Laura A Collins nope. I am really struggling with weight. However, it is a mindset - the results may not follow in the way I want, but the actions are certainly under my control.
- Laura A Collins I will never be skinny. But, I can be healthier. And, to do that, I can do tiny steps each day to improve health. And I can value doing those steps.
- Some may not consider fear usually as an excuse. That was my excuse until recently. Great post Laura and exercise does help with anxiety and several other issues. Make priorities in the proper manner for overall health!!
- Laura A Collins Thanks. And important to note - the results ARE NOT under control. Just the decisions to do the actions that each person is individually capable of.
- Laura A Collins For me, nerve damage in my back stops me from many types of exercise - but there are still many types I can do. Right now I am managing about 15 minutes in a day of stretches. Next week, I will add one more minute to the 15 and do 16 minutes. With Fibro, taking it in tiny, tiny stages means I can achieve that stage. But it is not just exercise. Health is multiple dimensions interacting with each other. So, making better choices when I eat. Taking time out for meditation. Planning down time so that I do not burn out from counseling clients during internship. I may not be out running marathons - but then that is not the goal. For me it is what tiny improvement can I make today
- Sounds like things are going well for you Laura A Collins . You are determined and focused! We are all different. What works for you may work for others but not for the rest of us. That doesn't mean that we are failures we just need to find what works for us. I never want to tell someone they just need to "suck it up" and everything will be ok as it simply isn't true. If we could we would. I'm sure you will agree with that. We all have our different sets of pain and energy to deal with daily.
- Laura A Collins certainly not to suck it up. That is too close to the "no pain, no gain" damaging nonsense people used to spout. We each have different goals, different values, different capabilities. Instead of trying to match something that is not real and honest for our own lives, I would instead simply focus on what my goals are and instead of damaging that choice, follow the actions of that choice with pure and simple dedication.
Instead to focus on the things we can each do in our own lives. It is not a comparison to others. Instead, it is simply to decide what we want to do in our own personal lives. There are always who are out there who can do more or can do less than we can. It is more about deciding what is important to you, inside your own skin, and valuing yourself to do that thing. I will never be completely low carb, but I can chose to eat better choices. I will never be able to run a marathon - but I should over the next year or so, gain enough endurance to be able to hike up a bit of an incline. And if not, then I will be able to walk that which is flat but for a bit longer. It is much more about deciding to do what CAN be done, without guilt over what cannot be done, without excuses to avoid.... simple choice and then moving forward. - Laura A Collins And no, things are not so much going well as becoming clearer. It is still a struggle. And I would very much like to slide back into my comfort zone. But, I am choosing to try to do what I see as being healthier for me (albeit NOT physically, mentally, or otherwise overextending and damaging).
- Very well said, Laura. Good for you and I hope others will read this and do something for themselves!
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