Committed

The first week of this new year is almost complete.  Wild. 

Wednesdays are, by and large, my favorite day of the week – I’m off work and can attend to all sorts of things that I need to do.  But lately, I’ve started to fall in love with Thursday.  (Wednesday knows, don’t worry!)  Where yesterday is a nice break in the work week, and a reminder of everything I need to do, Thursday starts me thinking about the week’s end, the ways in which I’ll spend those great cousins to Friday, you know … Saturday and Sunday.

Tonight, I had planned for a five mile run at the gym and had hoped to arrive early enough to avoid all of the New Year Resolutioners – those folks who think that they have to wait until the turn of a calendar page to begin a quest for health and fitness.  My gym is stupidly packed with them right now, almost to the point of my daily session not being enjoyable.  I say almost because it would take something fantastically ridiculous to make me not enjoy my time in my church.  A headache the size of China got the best of me and for the first time in six months, I've gone a day without a gym or cardio session.  It's a bizarre feeling, but I'm listing to my body and know that in the long run, the time I didn't use at the gym will show in the time I shave off my runs.  

Earlier in the week, I had to use a racket ball court for my kettle bell and jump rope workout.  That was okay, but frustrating as well.  I appreciate that folks are trying to get healthy, but I know come February, most of them will be gone.  Being healthy, walking this fitness route and committing to this lifestyle takes time.  It takes effort, and a willingness to keep on once the initial motivation is gone.  In so many ways, it’s exactly like writing. 

The first time I saw my name in print, I kept staring at the page.  A dream, realized.  But a dream that took hours and hours of time, a dream I worked for tirelessly, long after the initial motivator was long gone.  Writing these days, like lifting weights and running, has less to do with motivation and more to do with discipline.  I work tirelessly for my goals.  I wish the newbies at the gym could do the same.  It’s like Rachel told me on Tuesday, “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”