Today we are going to delve into F-I-T-N-E-S-S. But not what you think. I want to talk about “mental fitness.”
Are You Mentally Fit?
I hear what you are thinking, “What does this mean and how will it help me?”
Glad you asked.
How often have we wanted to start something that we know we should do? Cue the frantic hand raising. And, if you are anything like me, you either waited for the urge to pass or you approached it with crazy determination and it worked gangbusters for a little bit and then boom, it came to a screeching halt.
There may be several reasons for this:
- As only women can, we start the downward spiral of self-deprecation, assigning blame to our shortcomings
- We did not give this new something a chance-seriously, ain’t nothing going to happen in seven days
- We may have gone all in-I’m talking spending lots of dollars on equipment, clothing or whatever accessory we thought would help make us experts in whatever endeavor we were starting
Any of these reasons strike a nerve with you?
I am quite sure the down-hill skiing equipment, including crazy expensive jacket, pants, goggles, and helmet are devaluing and collecting dust at the same rate as they remain in the deep caverns of our basement.
I did this because it was important to my husband. He is a beautiful down-hill skier who found his jam in going very fast down the “Michigan Mountains.” He races. He’s won many races. I will never understand why others pay to be cold.
This charade of me pretending to enjoy skiing lasted several years. I grew up skiing with my family. It was a mandate from my father. As a child I didn’t love this activity. I realized that I really didn’t love it as an adult.
For something to work, or to have mental fitness, we need to like what we are doing.
How Does it Work?
The whole point here is mental fitness supports our desire to not only start something that we may want to pursue that is in our physical best interest but continue, improve and conquer. It keeps us interested, and motivated.
When we make room for possibility, that is mental fitness, Fiercely50ish Style.
Or, we can look at it as no longer making excuses. Truly, how many dogs have really eaten our homework?
EXAMPLE: If you want to run a 5K race, yet cannot remember when you last ran, you should not sign up for a race next week.
Start from where YOU are, nobody else. Break this down, you’ve made the conscious decision to add more movement to your day. Yay! Every cliche comes to mind, but for now, let’s just go with your mental fitness is kicking in, promoting your decision.
As I’ve said before, I am not your mother, so I leave the type of physical activity you do to your discretion. Just make sure it is safe.
Mental fitness is the door to physical fitness. And, you are opening this door to limitless possibilities! All you have to do is cross the threshold.
After you!
#Fiercely50ish!