* Yes, there is a grammatical error for you grammar nazis...Liz, Kek...you know who you are!
Some of my best posts are hatched in the gym. That's not to say that today's post will be my best post. It just means that alot of my material and thoughts come, when I'm working out and listening to my music and observing people around me.
Today I was thinking about where I am at, right now. It's not where I want to be physically. I want to be right back there in January of 2009 when I had my professional shots done. Well...at the moment I want to be there because that's when I felt and looked my best, and I'm not there right now. It's amazing how often we grasp the things we want the most, only to let it slip between our fingers. We get comfortable. We get complacent. We don't realise what we have in our hands.
But you know, when I was there I still wasn't satisfied. When I got there I knew what I was capable of achieving, and then I thought about what I could do better. There's always something we want to do better. I believed at the time that I hadn't reached my potential and that 2010 was about taking it to the next level, to see what was possible physically.
2010 was not to be, and it's been a year of struggle. Injury really sucks and just when I thought I had overcome, something else rears its' ugly head and you have to go back and retrace your steps.
But just because you retrace your steps, that doesn't mean you're starting again. This health and fitness journey is just that...a journey. It's not going to be a straight line from Point A to B. If you accept that from the very beginning, you'll achieve most of your goals.
If you've made a start and you look back, you'll find that you have in fact come a long way from when you did start and you have made progress. So be grateful that you had the courage to begin. If you're like me and you've achieved some success toward your goals, then take that to heart and draw upon your experience and that desire to take you beyond where you are now, to continue moving forward.
You have to begin with the attitude that whatever comes your way, you will deal with it and you WILL find a solution. And even more importantly, you will persevere until...
...until you get to the next step, and then the next one. Sometimes you have to step sideways or backwards until you can move forward, as long as you MOVE. As long as you continue striving.
Sometimes you've got to hit rock bottom before you make the decision to do something. For some, rock bottom is a very long way down and for others it's in varying degrees. Everyone's rock bottom is different. But I believe that until you reach that point, you won't dig deep enough to bring about the changes required to reach your goals.
I know for most, the journey of fat loss; weight loss; fitness, and/or health is a difficult one. We compare ourselves to others when we shouldn't be, because we don't know what they've been through or what they've done to get where they are.
You see all sorts of people in the gym and you make judgements, but you don't know their personal journeys or struggles. And guess what...you are going through your own (personal journey and struggles), so that doesn't make you any less of a person, or more of a person than the one standing next to you.
You might think that it's not worth digging deep when you train, because you're just starting out and you're not as fit or you don't look as good as that person standing next to you, so you give it only a half-hearted attempt, instead of a gold medal performance that you're worthy of!
Yes...you heard me right! A GOLD MEDAL PERFORMANCE! Every time you step into your training gear you're working toward an Olympic Gold! If you approached every session with that in mind, how would that change the way you train? How would that change the way you feel? And how would that manifest in your results?
You see...it doesn't matter if your Gold Medal Performance in the gym is only 2 minutes on the cross-trainer or 20 minutes. As long as you dig deep and give it your all for that whole entire time. If you're not doing this, you're cheating yourself of the possibilities that lay ahead. Because before too long, if you have the right attitude and you continue to dig deep, you will be able to turn that 2 minutes into 20 minutes. And if you're doing 20 minutes, then you could turn that into 40 minutes. The point I'm trying to make is...you need to better yourself every time you step into the gym...or whatever it is that you do.
So when you go back to the gym (or where ever you go), why not train like you're going for GOLD? Because 2 months...6 months...2 years down the track, you might just look at that person next to you thinking you'd love to look and be like them and realise that it IS YOU, and what you're looking at is your reflection in the mirror!
7 comments:
Great post, Kerry!
I've caught myself a few times recently making judgements (both good and bad) about people at the gym and pulled myself up with exactly the point you've made - that I don't know anything about them, and therefore have no basis to form an opinion.
As for retracing your steps, that can be a confronting experience, but it doesn't have to be a bad one. I reckon summoning up the guts to get back in the game deserves a gold medal in itself.
I mean, seriously. Are you fricken reading my mind? Stop it right now! ;p
On another issue, you're right - 2010 hasn't been right for us, but I think bigger lessons have been learnt and we've still got time to finish strong. Big things can happen in 12 weeks.
BAMMO! ;p
Kerry this post rang SOOOO true for me, it was a bit eerie actually. I have hit what felt like rock bottom so many times and always feeling like I was a failure who never made any progress. But after redaing your blog post I'm reminded that I have indeed come a long way, albeit not in a straight line.
Nice to see that you too are a member of the "Finish Strong Club."
Yes Kek, retracing your steps can be confronting, but the plus is, that you've been through it before, so at least you know what you can expect. And getting back in the game can take some guts, but I think we need to leave behind our egos.
Well I think I've been reading not only your mind, but a few lately Judy...WTF??? I must be seriously tuned into the universe right now. :P I'm happy to have you back though...blogland has been desolate without your HAWTNESS!
Just reading about what you've achieved in the last 12months alone Magda, you should be reminded of just how you've come. And REMEMBER! YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE! You may have FAILED, but that doesn't make you a failure. Failure only relates to the 'event' rather than the person. Without all those 'event failures', you wouldn't know what it would be like to experience SUCCESS! :)
Okay...we're all going to FINISH STRONG IN 2010!!!
Great post.
http://youcanfacetodaybecausehelives.blogspot.com
Kerry, I'm with Jude and Magda - it felt eerie reading those first three paragraphs and feeling like I was reading my own words...2010 has not turned out like I'd planned. I've even gone backwards, in that the scales show me numbers I'd never had to deal with before. Thank you my friend, it's nice to be back in Blogland and to see I am not alone in this journey. See you up at the podium ;)
Hello Sandra! How nice to hear from you. I hope your business is going well. Well it's lovely to have you back in blogland too. If anything, it helps us stay in the loop, so we're constantly reminded to keep up the fight.
You know, I think there's something quite eerie about how our lives are aligned. The majority of people I know have all had big plans for 2010, but have struggled throughout the year. I think the planets are a little out of alignment this year. So here's to 2011 and the hope that the planets will once again align and it will be an AWESOME YEAR! ;)
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