Talk yourself into it, not out of it. ~Dolvett Quince
I’m laying in bed – my soft
warm bed with the Memory Foam mattress and heavy denim comforter. I should get up. My bed is so warm. I need to get up. The sheets are so soft. It’s January 31st. The last day of the month. It has to be now
My goal for myself is to
participate in an organized 5k every month.
January is a hard month. There
are not many 5ks in my area (It’s cold in Pittsburgh this time of year!). My schedule did not match with the few that
were out there so I was forced to go with a Virtual Race. A Virtual Race is one where you register for
the event, but then you can run it anytime and anywhere that you want within
the given time frame.
I registered for the Cutch’s
Crew 5k in support of Pittsburgh Pirate Andrew McCutcheon’s Foundation. You can run the race anytime between January
1st and May. For me this
would serve as my January 5k (check out this great event at https://www.facebook.com/cutchsvirtual5k/?fref=ts).
Before I knew it, it was
January 31st. How did that
happen? It was a beautiful day and my
plan was to run after church.
Off to church we went! We were all happy. My kids were getting along. It was a great worship service. What a great morning!
“Hey – Let’s stop for lunch at
Moe’s!” someone asked on our drive home.
We all responded in unison,
“Welcome to Moe’s!” My husband pulled
into the parking lot.
As I sat in Moe’s eating an
insanely large burrito, I remembered that I was supposed to be running a 5k
when I got home. There was no way that I
was going to be able to run after ingesting the deliciously overstuffed lunch I
was shoving in my face.
Upon arriving home I figured
that an hour long nap would be the perfect way to digest. I turned on my alarm and crawled into
bed. One hour passed. My alarm jolted me out a deep sleep. I’ll just lay here for a few minutes I
thought as I pressed the “off” button.
That one hour turned into two hours.
The sun was beginning to set. My
bed was so soft and warm.
No one will know if I don’t
run this race today. No one will know if
I don’t meet my goal of one 5k a month.
What difference does it truly make?
Eleven out of twelve months. No
big deal. I was very quickly talking
myself out of going for a run.
Then I thought about my sister
who gets up at 4:30AM every weekday to fit in her workout. I thought about my running friends on
facebook who were also striving to complete a 5k a month. I thought about the example that I was
setting for my kids. In the car on the
way to church I had talked about needing to get this 5k done today. They would know if I didn't go for a run.
Motivation - My sister gets up at 4:30AM to get her miles in! |
I threw the warm soft covers
off half of my body allowing one foot to drop to the floor. Slowly
I peeled the covers off the rest of me and stood up. Brrrr!
I shivered. My body longing to
crawl back under the covers. Nope! I was going to do this.
Looking at the clock, I realized
how late it had gotten. I wanted to
enjoy the beautiful day! Scrambling, I
threw on my workout clothes and headed out the door.
My lungs were instantly filled
with the invigorating air. My feet pounded on the pavement in time to the music filling my ears. The bright sun hit my face filling my heart with joy.
It would have been so easy to talk myself out of this run. My tired body. The warm bed. The lazy Sunday afternoon. I have done that many many times. But what I have learned is that I feel so much better when I talk myself into exercising. I feel better physically, mentally and emotionally. It amazed me how easy it is to forget that.
When I was watching the Biggest Loser a few weeks ago, Dolvett was talking to his Team as they worked out. He was pushing them to their physical limit. Team members began to waiver wanting to quit. Dolvett continued to push repeating louder and louder - Talk yourself into it, not out of it. Talk yourself into it, not out of it. TALK YOURSELF INTO IT, NOT OUT OF IT! What wise words. But how do I do that when all of the reasons to not do "it" are screaming so loud in my head? The answer, I have found, is to start listing all of the reasons I should. Though quiet at first, that voice of confidence and enthusiasm will rise above the voice of negativity and push me into motion. My kids. My health. My happiness. My family, My friends.
Wise words from Dolvett! |
Self-talk plays a HUGE role in our health. What are you telling yourself? Are you putting yourself down or filling your head with excuses? Be a cheerleader! Cheer yourself on. Tell yourself that you can do it. You're a super star. A stud! You can do this. Tell yourself you can and you WILL!
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