Mar 26, 2007 | 12:06 am
Take it Easy
I typically am a very fit guy. Heck, I threw a party at a rock wall gym for really no reason at all. This past month I’ve been spending time with my boyfriend and I was also sick for about 15 days. This week I decided I was ready and healthy enough to get back into my habit of working out. I didn’t want to go right to the gym though – I knew I would need to take it easy. I love the way Tina Turner (one of my heroes, by the way) starts Proud Mary,
“You know, every now and then I think you might like to hear something from us nice and easy. But we never, ever do nothin’ nice and easy. We always do it nice, and rough. BUT, we’re going to take the beginning of this song and do it, easy. And then we’re going to do the finish – rough. It’s the way we do Proud Mary.â€?
Notice how she says they never, ever do easy, BUT they’re going to make this exception. An exception because that’s what they want to do. I decided I can do this same thing with exercise and start off easy. I can do the finish rough if I’d like – but I’m just beginning. Anew again, today.
Taking it easy doesn’t mean that you’re getting off the hook or making an excuse. It’s still movement forward, it’s growth, it’s a choice. Going slow, methodically, paced, easy, relaxed – it’s still going.
Where are you not willing to move because you think what you want to do is going to be rough? What choices are you avoiding because they’re hard? What actions are too scary, fearful, or sticky?
For me, I walked to work two days in a row, and walked on my lunch break on the third day. I hemmed and hawed and ultimately decided I didn’t have to go right into the gym’s 5:45 AM step aerobics class (rough) and go on a stroll to a place I was already committed to going to (easy).
Where could you take a step if you could go easy? Could you still acknowledge yourself for your choice if you gave yourself a break?
Truly Yours,
Joseph