Old Excuses, New Resolutions… We Deserve Better!
As a fitness and wellness professional, I have heard every excuse imaginable when it comes to creating and sustaining sound patterns of nutrition, movement and exercise…
“I Do Not Have Time.” (# 1 Excuse)
“I Am Too Fat.”
‘‘I Am Too Old.”
“I Am Too Unfit.”
“I Ache Too Much.”
“It Is Too Hard.”
“It Is Too Expensive.”
Sound familiar? Please do not feel bad. I have been there more times than I care to admit…
So we wholeheartedly try again each new year’s day, vowing to turn our old excuses into new, productive resolutions. We promise to get it right. We are really motivated this time. We swear that this will be our year… until, 2 months later, it’s not…
May I chat with you as your Get-Better friend, not as your Feel-Better friend? May I lovingly remind all of us (including me!) of what we need to hear, NOT what we want to hear?
Being Good Stewards of Our Time and Temples Requires Hard Work, Not Excuses or Resolutions…
Let’s Do the Work Anyway!
We Make Time for What We Value…
Let’s Cherish Ourselves Enough to Make Space for Wellness!
We Have to Be Intentional about Our Health and Fitness to Get a Good Return…
Let's Put Forth a Purposeful Effort!
We Have to Want to Change More Than We Want to Stay the Same in Our Familiar Comfort Zones…
Let’s Welcome Growth by Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable!
The truth is that the same individuals who are frustrated by redundant excuse-and-resolution cycles rarely miss their weekly bridge games, manicures, pedicures, hair appointments, evening reality shows and Sunday brunches. At the very least, it appears that time, money and reasonable health exist to accomplish certain things. Yikes! Are we still friends? 🫣
All of us have made justifications that have kept us stuck longer than we care to admit, and it is okay. Now is the time to look ahead to better self-care alternatives that can profoundly redirect our lives. The reassuring news is that we can keep it very straightforward to begin the journey. No complicated or lofty resolutions are required nor are they encouraged. Quite simply, resolutions do not work. If they did, there would be no necessity to revisit the annual tradition of setting heartfelt goals to get fit and lose weight.
A SINGLE healthy choice repeated on a consistent basis is what eventually creates more healthy behaviors, and this is what paves the way to PERMANENT lifestyle modification. For example, when I begin each morning with some format of exercise, even if it is only for 15-20 minutes, I invariably make better food and beverage selections for the remainder of the day. One good habit leads to another, and this is what will finally set us free from making temporary, unsustainable resolutions that inevitably fail us and awaken our old excuse cycles.
Habit and routine transform us in ways that yearly resolutions never will, so let’s identify just ONE wellness pattern worth adopting. Perhaps it is something that we have unsuccessfully attained, or even attempted, for 20 years. Who Cares! Let’s name it anyway, practice it tenaciously, mess it up occasionally and then return to it courageously - NO EXCUSES! Before long, we will have ushered in a new and victorious way of life. You with me? 😊
In closing, friends, may we love ourselves enough to leave behind any unfruitful ways that obstruct emotional, physical and spiritual wholeness in our lives. We deserve better than our excuses and resolutions, so let’s get going with expectant faith and old-fashioned hard work. We can do ALL things this year through God Who gives us strength!