Down But Not Out

There comes a point in every hike, climb, run, or journey in general where you think, "I have to stop." Your body is tired and you've lost coordination. In fact, you can't even remember what is was that made you start this whole crazy thing to begin with. And motivation? You tell yourself that you did your best, but your body isn't going to keep up. It's ok. Just stop.

A small fraction of people are able to overcome this break in concentration. They surmount the pain, the internal surrender, and push through. Of course, the majority of people slow down, stop, and turn around.

So when do we really know when it's time to quit? When we really can't finish out the race or when we really have the endurance to carry on?

I tell myself all the time I'm going to spend hours upon hours at the gym, but after one boot camp session in the AM, I can barely climb a flight of stairs! Is it time to take a break, or should I push harder? My endocrinologist told me that you can't max out on exercise... but what if your body doesn't agree?

So I chose to rest. Maybe that was a mistake and I surrendered too easily. But I believe that sometimes your body tells you how to take care of yourself. Down, maybe? Out of the game? Not even close.

The Old & The New You

I've been finding lately it's been really easy to forget the things I used to love to do. I talk about hiking, but haven't been in over a year. For as much as I love reading, I haven't read a book for fun since last summer (school interferes sometimes, to be fair). And what about dancing? There wasn't a summer, winter, fall or spring night I didn't go out with friends in college. Going out in State College is a year-round sport.

But now I find myself in bed by 10, asleep by 11. My friends never call, rarely text, and even more rarely have time for me with hectic work schedules.

To break the monotony, I've joined a fitness boot camp! Sure, we meet early in the mornings, but the trainer kicks my butt. This morning, partly due to humidity* (*something I tell myself to feel better), I had so much sweat pouring off of my body, I was leaving pools on the gym floor. Even my legs were sweating. I had to take quick breaks to run to the kitchenette area and paper-towel my face off so I could get the sweat out of my eyes for another 30 seconds.

The boot camp is great, but I didn't realize how out of shape I've become! My diet has been way off, so I may* be undoing my hard work. My goal is to work up to the recommendations my endocrinologist gave me.

Shouldn't be too hard, after all, right now I'm only 7 hours of vigorous exercise short of my per week goal...

It's One Door Swinging Open, And One Door Swinging Closed

Sometimes it's hard to remember that when a door slams shut in your face that another one, or perhaps a window, might be opening for you somewhere else. We tend to get tunnel vision on the doorknob right in front of us. Maybe if we knock a little louder? Look around for a hidden key?

I'm guilty of this. Trying to make something work that just wasn't meant to be. But how scary is it to think that you now have to turn around and look for option B. And option C. Maybe D-Z.

Part of positivity is reminding yourself that this door you want to go through so badly isn't the only door. Hell, it isn't even the only building! As human beings, we're naturally curious about what's out there, so why limit ourselves to one pathway?

So before you go Jack Nicholson/The Shining on that door, maybe it's helpful to think that what's waiting on the other side isn't what you think is going to be on the other side. Maybe it's a place you don't want to be at all.