Push Yourself

So the alarm clock went off at 5AM announcing that it was time to get my sorry butt out of bed and go run. Since returning from Chicago last Wednesday I have run every day and my tired old body is really feeling it. I was hurting so bad yesterday that I decided to go for a long bike ride instead which, because of my seat that I am convinced was crafted by a hairy Hungarian woman named Elga, only proceeded to bruise my tushi.

So there I sat...staring at the red ominous glow of my alarm clock. I could feel my poor knees saying, "Don't thinking about it." My cowardly feet pretended to remain asleep; amazing how they won't do that for me when I am stressing. My shoulders and lower back said "Isn't this nice comfortable bed so much better than getting out there in the dark?" And then by butt said, "I am still hurting from that thing you call a bicycle seat so don't even think I am going bud. You can go without me!"

It was a struggle but I got up. All of my body parts were complaining in full force let me tell you but I refused to listen. I popped on my IPOD and found something jazzy and off I went.

Sometimes my friends we have to push ourselves. Life will inevitably make it easy for us to choose the path of least resistance. Yes a warm comfortable (well sort of, our mattress sucks but that's a different story) bed sounds so much more appealing than getting up at the ass crack of dawn and going running. But if I had let myself go the easy route, I would have only been letting myself down. I have done too much of that in my life and refuse to do it any more. So I push myself.

I trudge mile after mile with two bad knees, bad lungs (thanks to childhood and adult asthma) and plethora of other physical aliments that tell me to quit NOW! No one is pointing a gun to my head and saying go run or else. Nope it's just me, me and my conscience. And no matter how bad I feel at the end of the run, I feel somehow oddly way better. I feel better on so many levels.

Pushing ourselves whether to lose weight, have better manners, acquire more education, be a better boss or whatever, takes work and it takes commitment. Procrastination and more appealing alternatives will always exist and will inevitably look so much better then the work you have to do. But will it make you feel better about yourself? Will it bring you further to your goal or take you much, much further away from it?

You know the answer. I know the answer. My body parts hate the answer but alas they don't get a vote here.

Push yourself this week, next week and until you achieve whatever it is that you want to achieve. For me, I just want to look and feel more healthy and you know what, I am.

Like our friends at NIKE say, "Just Do It!"

Ripple On!!!