Sunday Inspiration: One More

I had kind of an odd childhood. My parents divorced when I was three. They had yearly joint custody of me and my older brother. So my entire childhood I would live one year in one state with mom and then move and live one year in one state with dad. Two totally different sets of rules. Two totally different disciplinary view points. I joke with people that I had to learn how to raise myself. My moms home was very strict, my dads had almost no structure, with moments of incredibly strict structure that would come out of the blue.

Consistency became something I craved. But as an adult, oddly enough, inconsistency is something I still battle.

Now before you jump on the excuse band wagon of ‘I do this because of my childhood’ it’s not exactly where I was going, so hold that thought. That's an excuse for another day.

When it comes to life, whether it’s food or fitness or even just getting good sleep, consistency is critical.

Even from the time we are babies we crave consistency. The same meal time. The same bedtime. The same time for snuggles every day. But babies still fight sleep. They still fight with you over meals. We watch in amazement as our kids create their very own struggle. And we start to say "just one more bite sweetie, take one more bite for mommy". Wrestling baby down at the end of the day and exhausted finally witnessing this peacefully sleeping child wondering why on Earth they make it so hard on themselves. Just lay here for one more minute, we think to ourselves, because we know they will fall asleep in that time.

The struggle is still very real, if we are honest with ourselves.

We know we need to have consistent meal time, yet when the time we could be prepping our food comes and goes, we just let it, and then feel rushed and frustrated and tell ourselves and others the excuse "I didn't have time to cook, so I grabbed a burger".

We know we really need to have as consistent a bed time as possible to ensure that we are fresh and ready for the day ahead, but many of us will click on the TV and if you're like me, when the window of opportunity for bed is passed, sleep becomes almost impossible. Giving us the excuse of "I am so tired because I didn't get any sleep". Which leads to grabbing that handful of chips or jelly beans at work because we seek quick energy.

We know we need to workout, but we tell ourselves we don't have time. In that same day, we had time to watch 2 hours of TV, or talk on the phone for 30 minutes with Mom, but we couldn't somehow squeeze in 20 minutes of a quick workout.

You must be thinking "Okay, Danya! I've heard this all before! Where is this going??"

Can you give me one more?

What?

Let me paint a picture that might help.

It's almost time for evening relaxing. You are facing a busy day ahead, you're actually tied up in knots in your belly about it because you know it looms. First instinct? De-stress in front of some comedy on TV. But stop. Yes I know it's a stressful day ahead. Hiding from it in front of TV won't actually change that, but can you walk into your kitchen and give me one day of food prep for your tomorrow? Just one day, all of your meals quickly put together and planned. Just one.

You are exhausted, but have a fitness goal. Your spot on the couch beckons you as you come in after the worst day ever, but can you take a basic workout, and give me one set, just one full set? Can you give me just one set? Pushups, sit-ups, plank, lunges, and squats. Nothing fancy, super basic, just one set of each?

Bed time hits but you're enjoying your show. You know this will impact the rest of your entire week. Can you give me just one more minute, and then hit the hay? Can you make yourself commit to only one more minute, and then bed? Just one more, not twenty more.

We literally become our own parents.

Instead of fighting that reality, maybe we should just accept it. Why not use their tactics, or even the tactics we use with our kids?

Make this week be a week of giving or doing just "one more" thing to create order within our chaos. Instead of living in the land of denial, we should just be real, and decide that we can do one more thing so that excusitis doesn't just become our very own failure disease.

Disclaimer: The "just one more" rule applies to completing goals, not that bag of chips or that six pack of beer LOL. Just keeping it real! Use it to create some good habits, not further bad ones!

Stay grateful. Stay humble. Stay in the mode of always becoming the best YOU!

Here's to you and the ABSOLUTELY AMAZING YEAR ahead of you!

Healthy Looks Good On YOU!

~d

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