“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”—Nelson Mandela
I have a confession (don’t I always?). I started the free 21-day meditation recordings with Oprah and Deepak Chopra, and it was awesome—life-changing even. I lasted seven of those 21 days.
New year! If you are like me, you start January with a bang. You are juicing your green smoothie in the morning, heading to the gym after work, and scheduling a calendar full of time with friends, family and even date nights. If you are also like me, by the 15th of January, you find yourself discouraged by the winter produce and begin exchanging green drinks for café lattes. By the 21st, you deem it entirely too cold outside and exchange outings with friends for the DVR and a solitary bowl of ice cream (I know it’s cold out; that one doesn’t even make sense, yet we do it). Sadly, by the beginning of February, your favorite class instructor has left your gym or yoga studio and the replacement actually makes you physically angry because she doesn’t do enough sit ups or insists on far too many planks. This frustration allows you to believe that it is in both of your best interests that you forgo the class after work. Yet, is this the real reason we quit our resolutions so early? My belief is it is the fear of failure that truly holds us back.
This year, my only resolution is to be resolute! If I take something on—like the idea in our Wise Words section of scheduling a space each month to organize—then I will stick with it. Being a “resolution failure” in past years, how do I plan on achieving this resoluteness? For me, it truly comes down to smaller goals. As good as a year membership at a gym looks, I know myself; I get bored or things change. I have recently taken up purchasing class cards versus memberships. Yes, they are more expensive, but it allows me to try things first, feel the vibe of the studio/gym and then choose my poison. Take a look at our Fit Body article this month. It is teeming with creative and fun ideas to make your workout diverse. Why commit to just one? Variety is the spice of life!
What about the “diet/eating healthy” resolution? Most of my Januarys have been spent tossing everything white (sugar, flour, etc.) into the garbage. February, I am back in the grocery store purchasing….you got it, sugar, flour, etc. Margie King offers the brilliant advice of eating a diet that is 70 percent “whole food,” or food that is as close to its original state as possible. That seems manageable because it leaves 30 percent wiggle room for reality (reality, also known as sugar, flour, etc.).
We have our own prisons. Our history, our genetics, our money problems, our inability to feel satisfied, and, most importantly, our fears that we will fail, our fears that people will judge our healthy attempts, and our fears that perhaps when all is said and done we just don’t deserve the health and happiness we seek. I say with small goals we make failure less imminent. So, risk it. You deserve it all—healthy body, mind and spirit. Face your fears and conquer them.
Happy New Year and new you!
Kelly
