Happy Monday, my friends. I am once again snuggled up on the plaid couch at our Airbnb in Michigan while my son watches Spongebob beside me. We are slowly but surely making headway fixing up our new house! We have nearly painted the entire thing, are prepping the floors for new flooring, and will take down the kitchen this week to prep for our new kitchen next week. So many details, but it has been a fun challenge. We will move into it later next week and hope to get our stuff after that (air mattresses and beach chairs will be our furniture until then lol.) I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
With all of this, I haven’t “worked out” since I left Mobile. Not in the traditional sense anyway. I’ve been exercising regularly for about ten years now, and it is something that truly brings me peace and happiness. I depend on it for my mental health, if I’m being honest. These past couple of weeks have been the first time I have given myself a break on the EXPECTATION that I need to work out no matter what. Which I have successfully done in the past.
I’m really hard on myself. I’m an achiever (Type 3 enneagram!) I love goals and setting habits and following through, and when I can’t do that I don’t feel like myself.
I could have gotten up each day here and continued with my BBG workouts, or gone for walks, or done any number of things. But instead I have been painting every inch of a huge house, researching design ideas, keeping up with my writing here and on Instagram, managing my community, and basically just trying to survive.
I often downplay things and need to be reminded. I’ve been living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks and have another 3 weeks to go. I just moved across the country. We are renovating a huge house.
It is okay to take a minute. To focus on other things. Because I know myself. I will move my body again when I get more settled. I will get back into my routine. Just not right now. The world won’t fall apart if I take a break, take a minute.
I am giving myself GRACE to just be. I have used exercise in the past to control things, it was something I could do that made me feel accomplished. When I don’t move my body I don’t feel my personal best, but letting go of that and talking myself though taking a small break helps me increase my mental health.
I am healthy and strong and at my perfect weight.
I love my body. I have a body.
I am an athlete.
When my mind tries to tell me I am lazy, letting things go, that I should be doing MORE, I repeat those affirmations. I am okay AS IS and ENOUGH even if life looks different for me right now. It will settle down and I will get back to the things that bring me joy.
Where is life showing you that you need some GRACE? Where can you relax a bit?
I truly believe in good habits and doing the things daily to make you feel good. I believe in moving your body and consuming things that make you feel good (body and mind,) drinking water and getting rest. Sometimes life will throw stuff at us that we need to take a minute for. So take that minute. Take a breathe and pause, and then get back when you can.
In the grand scheme of things I might have 4-6 weeks of time off from my traditional workouts, which is really NOTHING in the timeline of life. I am okay and enough without it. Life goes on. My mind and body are working hard to renovate a house, make sure my kids are transitioning well, deal with immense change, and recharge.
All is well.
Everything is always working out for me.
