No, this post won’t be about Living For Today, cuz we don’t know if we have Tomorrow! If that were the theme, there would be lots of frosting on my keyboard from the cupcakes I wanna be eating on the “final days”. I mean, there is some truth to Living for Today…..but it’s not the thought we’re going to explore together. In some respects, what we’re going to explore is how to use TODAY as a tool to create many many more Tomorrows for your life. A few times along this journey toward half marathon running and weight loss, I’ve had to create and commit and recommit to strategies for “winning the battle”, “taking the hill”, you know, aka …. finding success when the goal is long-term and far away.
My weight loss journey is a long one. Between my starting weight and future goal weight exists 122.2 pounds. 122.2 points of required success. 122.2 hills to climb. 122.2. 100 plus 20, plus 2 and……then 2 tenths more, just for fun. That’s alot of cobblestone on the path to success. Sometimes it’s hard to see the bright side of this process, to see over the peak of the mountain in front of me — and to stay positive – to stay a believer.
The same is true for running a Half Marathon. 13.1 miles is a reallllly long way. At my present pace, it will take me about 2 1/2 or 2 3/4 hours to run it. In my readings about running I learned that the average person takes approximately 2000 steps to walk one mile. So if we extrapolate, to walk or run a Half Marathon, that’s somewhere upwards of 26,200 steps. 26 THOUSAND and 200 HUNDRED steps. That is some journey I tell ya. But it’s not like you just show up and run a half marathon. Oh no no no. You have to train. Train for a period of time between 8 to 12 or 18 weeks. In my training schedule, I will be putting in 327.5 miles of training leading up to the Half Marathon. That’s (OMG, I might melt my calculator figuring this out) — 655,000 steps. Six Hundred and Fifty Five THOUSAND steps — just to be ready! Just to get to the starting line.
So, as I sit here amongst these numbers…..and I love numbers……I DO numbers for a living…..Numbers and I get along……But as I sit here amongst these numbers, how can I avoid being overwhelmed by them?
122.2
13.1
26,200
655,000
pounds
miles
steps
……”i’m hungry.” says my inner voice. “Shhhh. No you’re not. You’re just feeling stressed. Anxious. Relax, I tell my inner voice. It’s not like you have to do it all today.” And voila……Magic. There IT is. The key to the puzzle. You don’t have to do it ALL today. Of course not. Time is NOT my enemy. It is very much my friend. It is very much my aide, my tool.
~~ Oh, I’m damn well gonna lose 122.2 pounds….just not all today.
~~ And I’m gonna run 13.1 miles…..just not all today.
~~ And I’m gonna take 655,000 steps…..just not all today.
So, what am I going to do today? Well, here is some more magic for ya. I’m going to do TODAY, what TODAY requires. Nothing more. Nothing less.
~~ Today required me to make healthy food choices, and to eat my 30 Daily Point Value of Food. Check – Done
~~ Today required me to run 2.5 miles – which was Sooo totally do-able. Check – Done.
~~ Today required me to get a good night sleep. Check – Done.
~~ Today required me to be kind to myself. Check — (psst, never done — keep doing this forever and ever and ever.)
~~ Today required me to “try try again”. Check — and repeat as often as necessary until I succeed!
So, you see — the message for today REALLY is — Carpe Diem! Seize the Day. Take Today in your hands, Live it, and DO what Today Requires. Don’t worry about the big picture. Ignore the 122.2, the 13.1, the 26,200, the 655,000. Oh, it’s out there – it’s waiting for us. With fanfare and celebration. It will still be there when we arrive, and it will be all the sweeter for the wait. All we have to do is the small stuff that TODAY requires. And Be Kind to Ourselves. And Try Try Again. Greet each day with this attitude, and every TODAY takes you incrementally closer to where you want to be. It REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE. As long as you stay patient, and focus on today. Don’t let your desire for Tomorrow undermine your ability to FULFILL what TODAY requires from you. Read that again, it’s important. Don’t let your desire for TOMORROW undermine your ability to FULFILL what TODAY requires from you. This formula works regardless of what happens to be on your list of TODAY activities.
So What Does your TODAY require from you? Make the short list, and Get It Done. Pssst — don’t forget to make sure some “you time” is on your list!!
Ciao for now……Diane