Last week was intense!
The combination of the midsummer Full (Honey) Moon and Friday the 13th stirred up some crazy energy! My creativity was on fire, my body was charged with mojo, my mind with inspiration. The week was a deliciously sensual marriage between inhaling Nature in all her late-Spring glory, and flying through projects with vim and dedication.
Today, all I want to do is take a nap or zone out in front of the TV.
But I’ve a blog to write, phone calls to make and a whole list of deadlines demanding my attention. The projects have crashed landed into a mire of mundane details.
Same thing can happen after the outset of dietary improvements, a new exercise routine or mediation practice. The excitement of doing something wonderful for yourself drives you to gather recipes, buy a cute tank top to match your leggings, set up a Zen corner in your living room complete with a Buddha shrine. Then a few days or weeks in, you dread the site of another green juice, your body cries for you to hit the snooze rather than the gym or the cushion.
As my husband so eloquently put it the other day: women can forget that after the buzz & romance of the wedding, “you’re stuck with the guy who farts in bed.” The daily reality’s not as glorious nor as sexy as the dreamy beginning.
The honeymoon’s over.
How do you go about staying true to a commitment when you’re feeling an emotional hangover, discouraged or just plain bored?
1. First and foremost, honour where you are.
Down in the dumps? Tired? Don’t feel like kale today?
That’s ok. This is how you feel today. No judgment. It’s not going to last forever.
Besides, we put so much emphasis on what we need to DO to be healthy, we forget that taking time to BE is just as important.
All that intensity took a great deal of energy over the span of last week. Maybe I just need to rest!
2. Try a change of scenery.
- A walk in the park before you sit down to your desk.
- A run instead of sun salutations.
- Carrots instead of kale, an egg rather than lentils.
- Take a day off the diet and eat what you feel like eating (who knows, maybe it is kale!).
- Wear a dress to the grocery store.
3. Acknowledge what does get done.
If you’re anything like me, you have a tendency to beat yourself up for the stuff that got neglected, to focus on the half empty part of your day’s glass.
When I feel paralysed by inertia, I thank myself for that load of clean laundry, for the lunch I made, for the walk around the block – whether it was on the To Do list or not.
4. Yes, there are times when a little bit of a push is necessary.
I’ve learned over the years that the days when I really don’t want to go to yoga are the days when I really need to make an effort to get there. It’s inevitably (and deliciously) rewarding.
OK, I’ll admit that sometimes I resort to a bit of bribery to get there, you know, create the light at the end of the tunnel if you can’t see it from where you are.
Put a time limit on it – 2 ways:
Literally put on a timer, put your head down and just do the darned thing.
Or, commit to a limited number of days such as, stay off of dairy entirely for one week. Then reassess and possibly, recommit.
Promise yourself a reward:
It’s amazing what you can do with a sweet carrot dangling in front of you.
If I go to yoga, I’ll pick up some of that yummy sushi from the shop beside the studio.
If I get this blog done soon, I’ll have time to watch an episode of Mad Men before I have to pick up my son! :-
Now it’s your turn. In the comments below, tell us your favourite strategy for keeping focus when the sheen’s rubbed off your commitments. When you share your thoughts, you open the possibilities for others.
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