Sometimes I wonder at how the human race has been able to survive.  Humans can be pretty stupid. At least this human can.  There are a set of behaviors that, when I do them, make me feel great.  When I don’t do them or do them half-assed, then I feel like crap. So it seems really simple that I would do the behaviors right?  Wrong.

When I am not exercising, I make every excuse in the world to not go exercise.  I say things like I don’t feel well, or I didn’t sleep well, or I don’t have time because I need to work… blah, blah, blah.  In actuality, if I make time to exercise then I have more energy to get more work done, I sleep better and it makes me feel amazingly great.

That leads to the question, why don’t I consistently exercise?  I am sort of a yo-yo exerciser.  There are times in my life that I have been very consistent, usually when my life is in routine. Then something happens, usually something big that takes me out of my routine…a death, surgery, moving, etc.  And then months (years) go by until I am on the edge of miserable and pick up the threads of exercise again and get into a routine.  You’d think by now, at 50 years old, I have learned to keep my exercise routine especially when my life is out of routine.  Nope, not yet.

Another behavior that I have to do to maintain good health is eat right.  I am not a fan of any certain diet plan, but I do believe we are what we eat so I prefer to just eat real food.  I try to eat things that have ingredients my grandmother would have recognized.  So nothing that contains diglycerides or weird words like that and no “artificial” colors or flavors.  I mean really, what is in an artificial flavor anyway?  Why not just use the real flavor?  When I eat real food, my body just feels good.

When I am not eating right, I make every excuse in the world to eat crap.  I don’t have time because of work, I don’t feel well so I want comfort food, I am tired so don’t feel like cooking wholesome food… blah, blah, blah. In actuality, if I make time to cook great food, I have more energy for work, I feel better and I sleep better.  HMM…I am seeing a pattern here.

So why don’t I just eat right all the time?  Well usually it starts with doing something outside my routine like visiting people or going to a party, packing and moving, traveling, etc….times when it is easy to stop for something quick or throw together something processed.  Then it just spirals downward.  Finally, when I feel like crap, I get back into a routine of cooking and then I feel great again.  You’d think by now, at 50 years old, I’d have learned the lesson of staying in a routine of eating well especially when my life is out of its routine.  Nope, not yet.

A third behavior is making time for fun, rest and relaxation. When I do that each day, give myself a little time to just let down, I am a lot more centered and happy.  But instead, I take fun activities and make them stressful by putting pressure on myself to do things perfectly.  Riding or working on a bike should be a fun activity, but I have to do it perfectly.  Skiing should be a fun activity but I have to do it perfectly. Knitting should be a fun activity but I have to do it perfectly. I can suck the joy right out of a fun activity.  So in essence, I make things chores that should be fun.  When I allow myself to let go and relax, I feel better, sleep better, and have more energy for work. Unfortunately, I don’t just practice perfection when I am out of routine, I do it all the time. I should change my name to Joyce Ucher.   By 50 years old, you’d think I’d have learned to work on consistently making time for fun and relaxation every day.  Nope, not yet.

No, I haven’t learned all of life’s lessons yet, but that is the great part of being human, to allow myself to make mistakes, very human mistakes. I feel great right now because I have been sticking to my intentions and my plans for my life that I made back in Nepal. I am getting back in a routine…. which is very different from the way my life has been since I started this blog.

So here is my lesson: today is a new day.  So whether you have stuck to your New Year’s resolutions or not, cut yourself some slack.  Remember that each day is a new day, it doesn’t have to be on January 1.  You can start again.  Today.

For me, today, I will do my best to eat right, exercise and relax.  Tomorrow, I will do my best for that day.  And maybe by the time I am 80, I will have learned.  Nope, probably not… but the thing I hope to have learned is just to do my best…every day.  I am never going to be perfect and I have to stop beating myself up whenever I am not.

Cheers and happy New Day!  Robin