Inspiration Mondays: How to Defeat Procrastination

It's not often that pain brings about inspiration, but this morning, it sure did.

I woke up at about 5:30am this morning. That's not a bad hour for me (I'm an early bird), but it came with the following issues:

1. It's a holiday here today. 5:30am is a dumb time to be awake on a holiday Monday.
2. I'm heading into the city today, which means driving, walking, and weariness, especially if I haven't had a good night's sleep.

I was awakened by a dull ache in my quadriceps. Well, actually, I was awakened by Rascal leaping up on the bed and onto my feet. After that, I noticed the ache in my legs. I tried to change position to get more comfortable, rubbed my thighs a bit, and did a weak stretch, all the while trying not to disturb Rascal the hubby, but eventually, I decided there was nothing for it but to get up and do something about it.

I hobbled down the stairs and filled the bath and sighed when I got in. That was better. After a good soak and scrub, I got out, dried off, got into some comfortable yoga pants and a tshirt and made some tea while I s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d for few minutes. Eventually, I headed back upstairs and back to bed for another half hour or so.

I could have prevented this if I'd just spent twenty minutes last night stretching like I needed to. I felt sore last night from all the exercise I've been doing, but instead of getting up and doing something about it, I opted to look around online for some bamboo circular needles I've been wanting. I dithered so long over it that, by the time I closed the laptop, it was late.

Score one for procrastination.

So often, I hear people say:

• It hurts. I'll stretch later.
• I'm so out of shape. I should exercise more.
• I'm not sleeping well. I should talk to my doctor and see if there's something I can do about it.
• I don't feel well. Maybe I should do something about it.

And you know what? Yeah, you should. Because you pay in the end... maybe not at 5:30am on a holiday Monday, but sometime. And it sucks.

So, my resolve today is to make sure I do a full hatha yoga session tonight, complete with bow and king dancer pose to ease my still-aching quads. And I will repeat the mantra:  I will close the laptop before 9, I will close the laptop before 9, I will close the laptop before 9...

Score one for me.

Photo by Malene Thyssen