Taking Care of Yourself for the Long Haul, Even When It Is Hard
I was driving to the auto parts store after getting under my truck for the fourth time in one day to get my starter to work—yes, fourth. I had to crawl under my truck to mess with the starter to get it to work at the gas station, then at the grocery store, then at my house, and even after I left the gym. I was frustrated because I had to replace the starter, especially since I had to put in a new motor last year. That’s a whole other story, but I caused that one.
The starter was old, and it needed replacing. I’ve had my truck for nine years, and it will need things as it ages, but I take good care of it. Still, at times, things get hard, and I neglect it—then something needs to be replaced or fixed.
This is just like anything in life, especially our health. When it gets hard, we sideline our health and focus on what seems more important. Yes, some things take high priority, but a lot of times, we let something small derail our health and fitness—very quickly, I might add. I’m guilty of it, even to this day.
We don’t want bills, but when our cars or something similar gets old, we run to the flashy new thing. That flashy new thing often comes with debt or spending money we didn’t need to spend, all because what we had was old and showing some minor issues that could be fixed.
If you’ve started your fitness journey and life is making it hard to continue, take 20 minutes to figure out what’s truly making it difficult. Is it really a crazy work schedule? Is it a family member? Or is it just you saying, “I’m too tired”?
I’ll admit, I’ve been completely guilty over the last few months of saying, “I’m too tired.” Now, some days that’s legitimate, given my demanding fire career and the height of high school weightlifting season, but many days, I just made the excuse. I could have done something for 10 minutes—something is better than nothing.
Without getting too long-winded, reflect—not only on your fitness and health journey, but also on the decisions in your life where you keep running to the new flashy thing. We’ll invest in something new faster than we’ll fix or maintain something “old.”
STOP.
Take the time to repair what you have and make it better. That’s a more valuable upgrade than you might think. Staying consistent with doing something for your health pays off threefold, rather than jumping on the new and flashy train.
Trust me, you can do this!
