Week 3: Overcoming Obstacles

If you are happily enjoying the new Trump era, or if you've gone into self-protective mode and set up your boundaries like Fort Knox, you probably won't know what I'm talking about in this blog. So, read on to hear a new perspective, or quit reading to avoid it. I hope you'll come along with me, but the choice is yours!

If your head has been spinning with the disassembling of DEI, the threat to our LGBTQIA+ community (especially our trans family), and the potential trauma in schools and churches due to ICE raids, then you have likely been with me- caught somewhere between flight, fight and freeze- outwardly looking somewhat put together while inside, your heart and stomach are on full puree mode like the Nutribullet that's stuck to the kitchen counter with the gelatinous overflow of yesterday's smoothie.

Some of the changes to our country are soul-shredding, and when getting out of bed is exhausting- it's hard to see a path toward wellness.

We need to see the simple act of survival as success sometimes.

Of the past 7 days, I put one foot in front of the other 7.

Of the past 7 days, I had to claw my way out of bed two times- feeling the world spin around me faster and stranger than before- still I did it. Those were freeze days. I wanted to make it all go away, but I couldn't.

For the past 7 days, I pushed play on my workout 7 times; 3 days, I got two workouts each day. Those were fight days.

Of the past 7 days, I rested 3 days- avoiding anything unnecessary- anything that made me feel pain and comforting myself with exactly what I knew I shouldn't- food. Stress causes the chronic pain disorders I have to flair up, so I snuck a telehealth appointment with my doctor in during a prep period at work, too.

This is real life. Challenges don't change just because we've declared our health journey "On." It's the same for anyone who has ever expected more, different, or new from him, her, or themself. The world doesn't stop throwing up obstacles just because we want to run harder.

Finding a way to pick it back up, put our life back in motion, and return to the center is the real challenge. I teach sixth graders, and I feel like fitness, wellness, and mindfulness are much like the attention span of a 12-year-old. Our mind knows the expectation- the focus needed to get the job done in the classroom of life, but we still can't make it stay on target all of the time. We daydream, we get off track, we stick our noses in other people's business, throw erasers around the room in boredom, and we snack more than we feel hungry. The goal isn't to be on 100% of the time; it's to notice when we are off track and to redirect our attention to the real priority gently- to return to the present moment. The more we exercise the muscle of focus, the easier focus becomes.

It won't help me to feel shame for going off the rails for three days- fully knowing I have committed to sharing my truth here- for the world to judge. The only focus I can have is here, now, not yesterday. While the political climate is impacting my sense of safety, I have to recognize that fear and sense of the weight of a world out of control. I have a choice about how I show up, live, and experience my life.

This past week:

My comfort food of choice was- Dove dark chocolate candies with peanut butter filling and Ghiradelli's peppermint bark. While it tastes amazing at the moment, the moment is gone so fast, that it's compelling to put more and more on the tongue to satisfy the tastebuds. Before one realizes it, we've enjoyed more than we should, and we are still left with the original feelings of sadness, angst, and insecurity. Contrary to commercials- no one is being whisked away from their troubles on a York Peppermint Patty waterfall.

This week:

I choose not to consume so much junk food this upcoming week- so I have moved the peppermint bark to a place I can not reach without climbing on the counter. I put a healthy nut mix in front of it instead.

My weight was down from last week by one pound. Still, I plan to check back in tomorrow because yesterday's eating takes a bit to catch up, and I have my period, so I am certainly retaining water. My weight is usually a few pounds heavier during that lovely week. If you're tracking your health using a scale, checking at the same time of day and before eating is best. I also recommend using other means of measuring- like a flexible tape measure to multiple body parts to see how we change shape- not just mass. Think about the energy you have or the wiggle room in a pair of pants.

When not in my head, I've noticed that my clothes feel much more comfortable this week! It's like my workout pants have finally decided to stop staging a protest and are no longer flopping over in a dramatic boycott against holding my belly in. I mean, come on, pants! We’re in this together!

It feels good to be a team with my spandex leggings again. Today, they played their part nicely as I pushed the resistance on my Peloton bike, and by Monday morning, when I roll out of bed at 4 am and push my HIIT classes for 80 minutes straight, I am confident I will be fueled by anger and fear and a waistband that won't roll down. I will direct my focus to the power in my legs and the power in my heart.

When the world feels like throwing hurdles on our track, the bottom line in any health program is to become more consistent, but don't expect perfection. When we think we've failed, we have succeeded more times and in more ways than we count. We have to notice, acknowledge, rejoice, and become fed by those smaller decisions to choose a stronger, healthier self. We can't wait for the full effect of our efforts to claim victory; we must see it now and not allow other realities and agendas to get us down.

This will be my mantra this week.

Make this your mantra.

When you fall, recognize the pain and get back up.

You haven't failed; you have paused.

I am not a billionaire who is recreating my values for a new political power emerging. I am not the thunderous voice of a nation voting or picketing.

What I do have is a single, caring voice that I can cherish- a voice that is willing to speak love into the hearts of those around me. To remind my students and community that they are loved.

I have a compass I can rely on- that knows there are no conditions outside of me that will turn my actions toward anything other than my true north.

I have the will to strengthen myself enough to make the lives of those I touch a little bit better- feel more supported and I have the desire to find joy for my family when fear is knocking on our door.

I hope to find and create a community of like-minded people, and people who think differently but care to hear both sides of a story- care to be the best they can be. People who won't quit themselves- ever.

Will you join me?

Love,

LeeAnn