Life Balance post 40's....

"I live in that solitude which is painful in youth,

but delicious in the years of maturity."

- Albert Einstein

Lately, I haven't had alot of time to read all the blogs I follow, but of the ones I've been able to fit in, I have noticed a general theme since the start of the year, and that includes my blog. There's been alot of struggle present this year.

Last year, everyone was making huge leaps and bounds in most areas of their lives, even with the challenges presented. But this year, the majority (not everyone) seem to be a little bit perplexed and bewildered as they strive for the next level of progress in their lives.

It seems most of us are trying to find our way back to a place of resoluteness and confidence. Now, I don't think it's something we've necessarily set ourselves up for, i.e. sabotage. I just think that after a year like last year, where everyone seems to have achieved some major milestones in their lives, that we're finding it hard this year to live up to those achievements, and to approach it with the same zest and energy that was so abundant last year.

From what I can gather, the solutions we applied previously are just not working for us, and we're having to think about how we approach this years' challenges in a whole different way in order to move forward again.

Something which becomes more prevalent in the 40's, is the occurrence of injury. To my surprise, I found I wasn't the only one experiencing physical injury. There are alot of us out there who have chronic injuries, and we're supposedly the 'fit and healthy' ones of our age group.

I've been in denial about turning 40 and how it has affected me physically. I'm only now starting to accept the fact I am indeed getting older and that my body just doesn't respond in the same way it did 10 years ago. It's not an excuse to slow down - it's a fact. I found this interesting article on Age-Related Response to Injury , and what really hit home with me was not so much the physical response we have, but the mental and psychological response. Dealing with the reality of what is happening to your body I think is sometimes harder than the injury or physical state itself.

It's important to realise that how you approach this stage of your life mentally and psychologically, is more imperative, than the physical outcomes, and is the bridge or link to your present and future life-balance evolution.

So that's what I've been doing alot of thinking about lately, especially since I've had a few setbacks this year especially, which haven't seen me progress much in the way of fitness.

Tom Gerace's ('The Things Worth Believing in') comment on one of my recent posts got me thinking about this as well. His post on Operational Longevity, came as a bit of surprise actually (because I thought Tom was bullet-proof...lol...) and he talks about balancing his fitness training with his work as a police officer in the States. His bio, especially the first paragraph really expresses how I'm playing out this stage in my life....

"I have found that at a point in ones life, a person starts to define themselves between two categories; “who they are” and “what they were”.

Who am I? I am a; husband, father, police lieutenant, FBINA graduate, fitness buff, martial artist, hunter, reader, gun nut, conservative, internet surfer.

I was once a; soldier, SWAT operator, rock climber, skydiver and overall adrenaline junkie. As I age I am starting to find that I enjoy talking about some of these topics more than I enjoy doing them anymore. Life has a funny way of sorting out your priorities that way."

I think for those of us who are in our 40's, and have had a fairly physical life, whether that be work or sport, or both, we all reach this crux. How we deal with it, determines whether we will continue to make progress in all areas of our lives (including the physical - more importantly for some of us) and gain enjoyment and fulfilment, or whether we will stagnate and/or regress in the next phase of our lives, and leave ourselves wondering what happened and why.

I believe it's a necessary part of our personal evolution that we define who we are so we can embrace where we are going.

Which leads me to where I am now. 2010...is a year of redefining. My original goals have definitely changed since the start of the year. If I look at things honestly, I know that this year won't be a year of great achievements. And I'm okay with this. The remainder of this year will be about finding my way again, training-wise and reaching a happy medium (in both fitness, home and work life) where I'm 'just training' and 'maintaining' a state of injury-free health and fitness on a consistent basis. Needless to say, I won't be trying to break any great records and I won't be busting my arse worrying about what I can't do.

It's about closing or briding the gaps or weaknesses that I'm currently experiencing...physically, mentally, psychologically, so that next year I can propel myself forward. Hopefully, once I've reached a place where I have built up a solid base, working on the basic foundations, I can resume my pursuit of being the fittest and strongest I can be. I'm hoping for exponential growth once I can begin this part of my journey next year.

I propose to do that concentrating on my present goal of training in Crossfit 2 x pw; Wing Chun 1 x pw; Army PT without injury. Meanwhile, after much thought, I've decided I really need to focus on my core strength and stability. Without this being top notch, I won't be able to make much progress in relation to hip/pelvis stability and glute strength. Core strength, i.e. strength and response of my deeper abdominals and back muscles is the glue that binds everything together. It's an area which keeps falling down. I think that if I can gain true core strength, this will enable me to make gains in both glute strength and maintaining hip and pelvis stability. I've already sought help for this and have an appointment next week to look at putting together a core strength program, relevant to where I am right now, which takes into account my muscle imbalances/weaknesses and hip injury, and aligns with my training genre.

I really think that this is the key to me making real and sustained progress. At the moment, it takes a long time to recover, especially in Crossfit, and it's because I can't seem to get any consistency. Without consistency, it doesn't enable my body the required time needed for adaptation, in order for me to increase my volume or intensity, and hence improve my overall fitness and/or performance.

So this year I accept that I will have my struggles, and take two steps forward and one step back - sometimes three steps back. I will feel my way through this plateau, searching for sustainable solutions with new thinking and processes. And by doing this I hope to reach a place where I am feeling once again strong and confident.

Of course, that doesn't mean than I am unhappy. I am happy and content in my struggles, so long as I am putting in ACTION on a continual basis, because only then I know that I will be better than I was yesterday.

And about solitude...strange thing is, I am happier now giving myself more time, because it allows me to slow down and seek that solitude I long for. I am finding I am more able to be in the present, whether that means pushing myself physically in training, or playing all the other roles in my life. And that's a nice place to be. It's all about the journey, and I see this as just another part of it.