As We Courageously Continue...Personal Best is Best!

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” –Winston Churchill

All too often our good intentions in and of themselves produce such a euphoric feeling of well-being that we never allow them to develop into anything more than simple ”impulsive wishes”.   A thought floats into our head and all of a sudden we become overwhelmed with ideas, possibilities, goals and even dreams of where we may end up as a result.  And then, something unforeseen happens…something takes us out of our creative bliss and back to what we recognize as “real life”.  In the process – we totally give up on our initial thought and that which followed.  We abandon the very idea that convinced us that the “impulsive wish” could indeed be a reality.  We often find ourselves taken from the exhuberance of our potential to the melancholic realization that it’s just not EVER going to happen.

 

Pre-week #1 of the Mary-thon brought about 150 different levels of “yes” in response to the fitness challenge.  

Do you recognize your initial response to my invitation to join me?

“Sign me up!”  “I’m in!”  “I can’t wait to get started.”  “Thanks for the encouragement!”  “I really need to do this.”  “I hate to exercise but this sounds like something I can do.”  “I will do it!  I promise!”  “I’ve never completed a fitness goal but I WILL finish the Mary-thon.”  “I already exercise but I’m going to take my work-out to the next level.”  “I’m going to train for a 5K or a 10K or a half-marathon – thanks for the encouragement.” 

Of course there were many, many other replies…all positive...all ready and willing to begin.  And do you know what?  I believe every word.  I believe you when you tell me what you are going to do, how often you are going to do it, and especially that you are going to “Meet me at the finish line.”   

So - Where are you now - 1 month later?  Are you still excited?  Are you still working hard?  Are you tracking your progress on your chart?  Do you still feel the positive excitement you felt on Day #1?  Or...are you struggling.  In other words - have you "hit the wall"? Often times the realization that our goals were simply unrealistic can drain us of our enthusiasm allowing the "f" word (failure) to creep into our minds.  What's the next step?  How do we "push through the wall"?    

If you have set a realistic Mary-thon goal and have been successful, so far – BRAVO!!!  Keep up the great work!  If you have set a goal that’s totally unrealistic – and have dropped out of the Mary-thon – reevaluate yourself and reset your goals to something that you CAN do – and start again.  If you feel that you are not challenging yourself and could do more…pick up the pace and do more!  It’s that easy.

 

We DON’T need to make excuses as to why we can’t finish or why we're destined to fail.  We DO need to continue to pat ourselves on the back EACH day that we get closer to our 130 day (over 26 weeks) goal.

 

I know that 26 weeks (130 days of exercise) can seem like an eternity at times…but 13 weeks (65 days of exercise) is much closer.  What a sense of accomplishment you will feel when you hit that "half-way through" milestone.  I want to personally applaud you when you reach the half-way point.  When you have completed HALF of the Mary-thon (65 days of exercise) – send me your mailing address and I will send you something to applaud your efforts and hopefully motivate you to continue on.

 

Congratulations to each of you and Keep Moving Forward!

Mary