I was about to turn 47 and I was very disappointed in how I was living...eating junk, sitting on my bum too much, not exercising AT ALL. It hit me one day that I wasn't getting any younger and that the old adage was true...if you don't use it, you lose it. I've never really had anxiety about growing older, but at that moment, I wondered what the second half of my life might look like if I didn't take better care of the body that God had given me.
My daughter, a runner, offered to train me to run. I protested. I'm not a runner. But over the course of the next few months, she coached me to my first 5K! It was a journey that has changed my life...changed the direction of my life.
My coach is a busy girl and she no longer runs with me regularly. Ultimately, I had to make a conscious decision to do this for myself. To commit to caring about myself enough to keep on going. So I have.
One of the most remarkable things I've gained in my journey is that my self-talk has improved. I have proved to my inner critic that I CAN do things that at one time seemed impossible. It's a powerful thing to prove yourself wrong. It's difficult too. I had to practice talking back to myself when I'd start thinking lies like "it's too far, you'll never make it" or "gosh, you're so tired, you should stop". Every time I'd ignore my negativity, that voice was quieter the next time I ran.
I'm going through a phase of negativity at the moment (I blame all of the beautiful sugary treats that have taunted me for the last month) but I'll get through it, I've shut it down before. The first step is making sure the words that flow from my mouth are positive...no negative talk!
If you made a decision to do better for yourself, to take better care of your body, start shutting down the negativity. If you believe in yourself, you'll always have a built-in cheerleader!
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