Thursday, 15 May 2014

The importance of making time to exercise

I started exercising again because I have seen the results in others. The dedication of others to feeling better about themselves. And you know what I am finding that contrary to past beliefs that I hate it,  I  am really enjoying it. I like the sense of accomplishment I feel after I am done. I also feel like I have given my body a gift by exercising it and in doing so, I free up my mind by releasing endorphins into it. I find after I exercise that I am more productive, bouncier and feel like I can do anything.
What I also realize is that we put all sorts of obstacles in our way to prevent us from taking care of ourselves because when we take care of ourselves we feel guilty. Feel like we should be busy doing something more. Showing to the world how busy we are rather than taking the time to work on ourselves. Sometimes I believe we have become so caught up in society’s expectations that we are tied to our desks or attending meetings for the sake of attending them or doing something other than taking care of ourselves that we neglect to take care of ourselves. Instead we do what others expect rather than do what resonates with us. What makes us feel better.
But when  we give ourselves time, carve time out of the day, block our calendars so no one will intrude onto our personal time, we find that we get better results. We find that we are happier about life because we are happier about ourselves.
I hope I can continue my health consciousness now without feeling pressured to do things that take me away from it. Without feeling guilty. Without feeling like I am not contributing to society. Because what I am learning is by taking care of myself I am a better contributor to society because I feel that much better about myself. And in feeling better about myself, I can extend that feeling out to anyone who crosses my path. And I can go with the flow rather than going against it.
The lady that I trained with told me that our muscles have a memory of when we used to exercise and once we start exercising our bodies automatically go back to a place we used to be. I believe her because I could feel my muscle sighing in gratitude that they were put to use again. I could feel them responding gratefully to being worked again. I can also feel the pain of neglecting them. The dichotomy of life, along with pain there comes gain. My body is definitely illustrating the pain and gain syndrome right now showing me how much I have neglected my body.
It is so easy to find excuses for why we cannot give ourselves the time to be with ourselves , to exercise in whatever way we see fit but the more we starve ourselves of exercise, the more we deprive ourselves of being the contributors to society we asked to come here to be. So I am going to enjoy this phase of my life for as long as I can. Not projecting into tomorrow and not worrying about whether I can feel this way all the time. Not putting too much pressure on myself to do more than I am capable of such that I give up.

I just know that the only excuses that stop me from giving myself the time I need to exercise my body are the excuses I allow to get in my way.  Exercising mind, body and spirit allows us to be more balanced and feel whole and I intend to do this as much as I can. Even if it means just one day a week some weeks. Because more than anything I know I make my own sunshine. No one else can.  So here’s to exercise and more sunshine in my life. 

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