It’s yet another Monday, in yet a new year. My holiday guests from mid-December just left last Thursday.
I’ve been playing the Procrastination-Promise Game since they arrived. That is, “I’ll start my new, fresh start the Monday after they leave.”
Monday has arrived.
My new, fresh start means eating healthier, eating less, and (the hardest by far) starting an exercise routine. I don’t want to.
Right now it’s 6:20am, and my exercise room (aka Guest Room, aka Craft Room, aka Studio) is just around the corner. The Roku TV is set up and my workout clothes are waiting. The house is quiet: just the cats and me – no distractions.
All I have to do is stand up, walk 20 steps, change and hit Play.
I don’t want to.
The best thing about being an adult is getting to do what I want to do. Unfortunately, that’s also its biggest downfall.
For lots of us, self-discipline doesn’t come fast or easy. The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak. But the mind doesn’t build a healthy body, does it?
Self-discipline, practiced again and again, eventually becomes routine. And what becomes routine, becomes habit – something that doesn’t require self-discipline.
That’s the sweet spot. That’s successful living.
Without self-discipline, there’s only regret over lost dreams and “what could have been.”
In four or five months in April/May here in the Midwest, I’m going to be ditching my flannels and reaching for short sleeves.
Will I be proud of my slim, toned body? Or will I spend another summer overheated, hiding my oversized, unhealthy body under heavy, shame-hiding clothes?
Self-discipline… or regret?
The choice is always mine.
xo Jane
