Letting Up or Moving On
Mardi Gras Marathon Photos |
Here is a truth: Once you accomplish a goal, set another one or you will slack off. I have seen it in my own life particularly with running. As long as there is a marathon in the future I am registered for, it is enough to get me out of bed in the morning and running. It is enough to make me watch what I eat and do other healthy things. Without that future accountability, it is easy to sleep in on a cold day or enjoy too much of a good thing. Slowly but surely, all that has been gained slips away and the weight returns.
This is not just a principle of fitness. It is a principle of life. The paycheck lures us out of the house in the morning, the grade at the end of the semester encourages the student to study, and future company motivates us to clean the house and fix things that have been on the list for months.
Why wait for an accountability that is imposed by someone or something else? Why not use future accountability to get things done you want? In my case, I sign up for a marathon and that is all the encouragement I need to run every day and eat right. I do not want to run poorly so I do the work. A byproduct of this process is fitness and being at my ideal weight.
The next time you are complaining about something you need to do or wish you would do, think of how you can make yourself accountable and get it done. Turn the bitching into positive action.
Now that the Mardi Gras Marathon is over I am thinking about Boston. Once Boston is in the books it is the Goat Milk Marathon in June. Accomplishment is a good thing and it is appropriate to savor victory. This can be the siren's song however, if sights are not set toward a new horizon. Bruce Springsteen's song, "Glory Days," is about those who did not set new goals. Their life was defined by a success. Life moved on, but they did not. Do you remember Duffy in F Troop? (This is a reference that goes way back.) Duffy was an old soldier, the lone survivor of the Alamo. If anyone ever mentioned the Alamo, Duffy would launch into a verbatim account the soldiers had heard many times. Throughout the F Troop episodes, this bit was used. Someone would mention Alamo, Duffy would start his speech, and everyone would be shaking their heads.
So, don't let up, life moves on, move along with it.
Until the next time
John Strain