I quit

Last week I just flat out quit my workout. That was very atypical of me. In fact, I cannot honestly remember the last time I did that. It is not that the workout was too hard. I just wasn’t in it mentally and that definitely makes a difference for me. I’m not one who likes to just go through the motions.

The kids were home from school ( another snow day), and usually that is fine and I feel ok about still squeezing in my workout around when they are awake. I have been dabbling for a little while with early morning workouts, and for a while I was doing really good. Especially when my husband was working out with me because I knew that he had to be done at a certain time so that he wasn’t late for work. But then we had a breakup..he started a new program and we split ways. For a while I was still plugging along with my morning appointment in the garage, but then I skipped a day, then another, and well pretty soon I was back to squeezing in my workout whenever I could through the day. This particular snow day happened to be one of those days that I thought “I’ll just get my workout done after I drop the kids off….”

Don’t get me wrong, I really love being able to set a healthy example for my kids. I truly believe that the foundation of my children will become as adults is built in the short period of time I have them living under my roof. It is my job as mom to teach them values and morals, to teach them to cook and to clean, and ultimately just take care of themselves.

So I start my workout, and I felt strong. I made it through the first 15-20 minutes feeling like I was totally crushing it. Then all of a sudden I looked around and there they were watching me, I felt frustrated, and knew that I should turn it off. They were bored and I started thinking about how selfish I felt in that particular moment. I was so focused on sticking to my program and staying true to my agenda, that I lost sight of what was important for all of us. Yes, finishing what I start is important, but so is being a good mom, and for whatever reason in that moment, on that day…I did not feel like I was honoring any of my values.

The truth is, I should have been more disciplined and gotten it done first thing in the morning like I had originally planned. Instead I banked on having the time while they were at school. The old saying “not planning is planning to fail” came to mind as I thought back to 4:30 that morning when I had convinced myself that there would be time, it would be ok to just sleep in a little longer.

I went back later that night and finished it, because I am not a quitter. The next day I spent some time thinking about yesterday. I know that on the surface this whole thing probably totally seems like no big deal, and for some mamas I know that is true, but I am a firm believer in learning life’s lessons so that the next time around I can be a little wiser, a little better equipped, and a little more capable of helping other women through tough situations.

How do you handle life’s little curve balls? Do you continue to muscle your way through your difficulties or do you slow down and take some time to listen?