Accountability, Part 2

Yesterday was the end of my third week of boot camp. I have kept my commitment to going to class on any weekday morning that Ted is home with the kids. The program is four mornings a week: the first week I went four times, the third week I went three times (Ted traveled once), and this week I went four times.

On this past Thursday morning, I did not want to get up. My alarm rings at 5 AM, it was dark, I could hear the wind outside and, frankly, I was tired. But before I let myself fall back to sleep, I thought about my commitment to you, and I got out of bed (I also thought about the before and after pictures I promised!). Once I was up, I was glad for it.

Over the last three weeks, this is what I have learned about myself:

I am so much stronger than I gave myself credit. I have lower and upper body strength that I pay no attention to, even though I am lifting kids (up to 40 lbs), bags of dog food (sometimes 60 lbs), water cooler jugs, moving furniture to retrieve a missing toy, all day long. I have not yet been the slimmest person in the room, but there have been mornings that I can see that the weights I lift with ease are a struggle for my slimmer counterparts who have been doing the boot camp for two months or more.

I have also not been the heaviest person in the room. For that, I am grateful!

Getting up at 5 AM became a habit relatively quickly. Yes, I have had to adjust my schedule so that the night before I am mindful of the upcoming wake up call, but that is fine, too. Most times one has to give something up to take on something new. I gave up mindlessly watching t.v. as the "unwinding" I thought I needed after a long day working and tending to the kids. Now I go to bed an or so hour earlier, and 5 AM is not so bad. Incidentally, I recently read an article about people who are successful in business, who are 5 AM risers. If you were to wake up three hours earlier each day, you will gain 45 days over the course of a year (what could you accomplish if you gained 45 extra days in a year?).

Finally, during a workout in the first week of the program, we were doing ab work on the floor, and I was struggling to finish the reps as G (my instructor) counted down the last 10 seconds (I have not given my abs any attention since two pregnancies and a back injury). She yelled in my direction "chin up and eyes to the ceiling!" I lifted my chin and turned my eyes to the sky, and everything changed. I was able to finish what I started.

Sound familiar?!

Three weeks down, three weeks to go!

***

“A little at a time until less becomes more and more becomes less on the other side.” ~ Johnnie Dent Jr.

Halona Patrick Shaw, LCSW, JD

Board Certified Life Coach
Eyes Turned Skyward, Inc.

halona@eyesturnedskywardcoaching.com
 ph/text (917) 846-7784