Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your personal trainer in Amarillo. Today I am talking about power cords. No this is not a Best Buy ad or even me articulating my supply closet. I’ll go into depth about what I mean in a moment. If you have other questions about this blog or would like help finding your power cord, give us a call at 806-322-3188. Our trainers are awesome at helping. On with the story!
I went on a vacation recently. I know that’s not like me but every now and then I need to get away and recharge. Funny, that’s actually how this article came about. :o) So, when my family leaves for vacation, I am in charge of packing for myself, children and being a “helper” for my husband’s packing. (wink, if you’re a wife, you probably know what I’m talking about.)
By the time I finish the marathon of folding, packing, switching, folding, packing again it’s been a good 1-2 hours. Then it’s time to load the car. With any luck, it all fits. We make sure the kids have taken the necessary potty attempts, lock up the house, jump in the car and we are off!
However, It never fails that as we drive away (okay, it is usually by the time we get to the next town) I soon realize that I forget my power cord for my phone. Gasp! Not in this day and age. Even if I’m “disconnecting” for the weekend, I live in a “what if” world (only because it has happened multiple times in my life) and because of that, my phone is with me and charged…just in case.
So, back to the story, NO CORD!! What to do?? Well, of course my husband has his phone so if all else fails, we COULD use that. But I’ve always had issues with not having “mine”. So I usually have to stop and go find a power cord at a convenience store or something (reason why I own like a hundred or so).
Whew! Now we can enjoy vacation. Unplugged as it may be.
You might be wondering why I am telling you this today. I bring it up because I am curious, what is your “power cord”? What do you forget to do during the day or not make time to do during the day for YOU to keep YOU charged up?
After being a personal trainer in Amarillo for more than a decade, I hear about many of these excuses. That’s exactly what they are excuses. It may not feel great to hear that but when we forget or don’t make time for things, it leads to an excuse of why we couldn’t, why we didn’t prepare better or think ahead (ahem, yes, that would be some of the power cord issue at my home…even though it’s hard to admit sometimes.)
When it comes to your health, what is your power cord? Is it water, better nutrition, exercise, positive thinking, de-stressing, recovering, or even just allowing your body to just be?
You see, each of these things are helpful. Each one is essential and each can be easily overlooked by a busy person in a busy world. What people tend to either not realize or not recognize is that without these things becoming a priority for our lives, we eventually will become unable to be a positive influence and helping factor in other people’s lives. You are the bottom of the pyramid! If you begin to disintegrate from not taking care of yourself, you will lose the energy and ability to be able to keep all of the top levels balanced and stable.
Taking care of ourselves often becomes our last focus of the day. I mean, we do all have those absolutes that must get done but when you come home after kids practices, shovel dinner in and head toward bed thinking of how you’ll try to get your workout (etc.) in tomorrow. Do you not find it a bit ironic? To tell ourselves day in and day out that tomorrow will be that blank slate where we have nothing to do but what we want to do. Well, in my house that day has yet to come. In fact, in the past 8 years I’ve hardly had a day to myself, but that’s what happens when I ignore myself and look to “go with the flow” everyone else has set up. Instead I believe it’s high time that we all take time to work on fitting things in.
As a parent I recognize it is hard to put yourself on the priority list, but you must. Think of all the things that are demanded of you everyday: from your job, your friends, your family, your hobbies (what are those again?), your organizational commitments. It seems that our society now thrives on the status of “being busy”. The more busy you are the more likely you are to be seen as “cool” or “professional”, but at what cost? What are we really trading when we agree to work late? Or our kids take on another extracurricular?
We have to be willing to say, yes that’d be great, but I need to go to …(name your self-care activity). Giving ourselves the time to step away from all the expectations and just allow ourselves to focus inward will give us the spark to return to the hustle and bustle with vigor. You’ve heard it before, I’m sure, if it’s important to you, it will be prioritized. The problems lies in that while we desperately want to “lose weight”, “have more energy”, “Just fit in our old clothes”, etc. we aren’t truly ready to prioritize our own health and needs.
You deserve to be powered up. If you would like to begin a new lease on life, give us a call and our trainers will set up a consultation: 806-322-3188. Custom Fitness also offers nutrition counseling, group fitness classes, challenge programs, and of course, customized workouts. Sound good? We look forward to welcoming you to our family.