Inspiration Mondays: Inches Count
My pants fit. Yes, they do.
Since I started exercising more regularly in the evenings (as you can read about in my other blog), I've tried to do a little bit of activity every day. This is above and beyond the daily dog walk and my regular swimming schedule. And it's not always an all-out workout. Sometimes, it's a 20-minute yoga session. Sometimes, it's an hour-long cardio workout. Sometimes, it's a chapter of one of my belly dancing DVDs.
And I never, ever guilt myself for missing a night. I just know I'll do something the next day. And I never punish myself with a hard workout just because I missed a night. Something is better than nothing. I inch my way forward, and if I get swept back, I don't try to gain lost ground. I just try for another inch tomorrow.
I'm saying this because we're on the home stretch before the holiday chaos this week. I know many people are frantically trying to get all the things on their lists finished, trying to find the perfect gifts, trying to cook all the food and to remember all the relatives. And some people are totally and utterly stressed out right now with it all.
My mother is really good at dealing with a big task: she does things a little at a time. She does a couple of jobs a day until they are all done. Our house is the house upon which all the friends and relatives descend (I think there were 24 people in the living room last year), and we never, ever run out of food or presents. And it's because she's so good at doing a little at a time, even if it's a last-minute task. And if something doesn't pan out, well... so what?
I hope that everyone out there remembers the age old saying, "It's the thought that counts," and that they are all pleased enough to be around their friends and family, even if things don't turn out to be the picture postcard perfection they hope for. In reality, perfection comes from intention, not from obsession. Try a little at a time, and be ok if it's not what you planned.
That's how I got my pants to fit.
Since I started exercising more regularly in the evenings (as you can read about in my other blog), I've tried to do a little bit of activity every day. This is above and beyond the daily dog walk and my regular swimming schedule. And it's not always an all-out workout. Sometimes, it's a 20-minute yoga session. Sometimes, it's an hour-long cardio workout. Sometimes, it's a chapter of one of my belly dancing DVDs.
And I never, ever guilt myself for missing a night. I just know I'll do something the next day. And I never punish myself with a hard workout just because I missed a night. Something is better than nothing. I inch my way forward, and if I get swept back, I don't try to gain lost ground. I just try for another inch tomorrow.
I'm saying this because we're on the home stretch before the holiday chaos this week. I know many people are frantically trying to get all the things on their lists finished, trying to find the perfect gifts, trying to cook all the food and to remember all the relatives. And some people are totally and utterly stressed out right now with it all.
My mother is really good at dealing with a big task: she does things a little at a time. She does a couple of jobs a day until they are all done. Our house is the house upon which all the friends and relatives descend (I think there were 24 people in the living room last year), and we never, ever run out of food or presents. And it's because she's so good at doing a little at a time, even if it's a last-minute task. And if something doesn't pan out, well... so what?
I hope that everyone out there remembers the age old saying, "It's the thought that counts," and that they are all pleased enough to be around their friends and family, even if things don't turn out to be the picture postcard perfection they hope for. In reality, perfection comes from intention, not from obsession. Try a little at a time, and be ok if it's not what you planned.
That's how I got my pants to fit.
Comments