The Meme

I just saw this meme:

Doctors don’t make you healthy.
Teachers don’t make you learn.
Trainers don’t make you fit.
Coaches don’t make you rich.
At some point you have to
Understand that this life is
100% your responsibility. 

And it really hit me.

Especially the trainer line. You see, last July I had had enough. Enough of working out, enough of dragging myself out of bed at 5:30 am to go work out, enough of driving to the gym. Enough. I needed a break. I had been working out steadily for 20 months and I was tired of it.

So I took a break. My break has lasted 9 months. It’s not like I have been living on the sofa, and I am much more active than I used to be. And I am ready to start working out again. I like the way I feel when I get steady exercise, and I want to improve my strength and my stamina, which will improve my horsemanship. Please note here that this is not about losing weight or reshaping my body or about my looks. It is about how I feel and how I want to feel even better. I love feeling strong, and I love the feeling of exhilaration and accomplishment I have after a hard workout. You know, the kind where even your eyelids sweat.

In an effort to get back on the workout horse, so to speak, I started exercising a bit last week. I tried to get up early one morning and didn’t quite make it, so when I got to my office I took my yoga ball down (it’s there for both children and me to play with) with the intention of doing at least 15 sit-ups. I thought I could squeeze those in quickly, then dive into email checking. I sat down on my yoga ball and promptly rolled over backwards and landed on my fanny with my skirt hiked up to my hips. Dear Lord, did I laugh.  And then I managed to get back on my feet. I rolled the ball over in front of one of my chairs so I wouldn’t wipe out again, and got those 15 sit-ups done. Later that day I got some arm exercises done. Not exactly setting the world on fire, but progress.

This morning I again struggled to wake up in time to exercise. I am not a morning person. I would like to be, and admire those who can bounce out of bed with the birds. I, however, would like to smother the birds…just a little…so I can go back to sleep. Anyway, as I blearily eyed my alarm and debated hitting the snooze again, I remembered that when I was meeting my trainer, Liz the Magnificent (a morning person), at the gym, I managed to get myself up because I knew she was waiting for me. I had made a commitment to her to be there, so I was. I showed up. I did not bounce in the door thrilled to be there and eager to exercise, but I did show up. Poor Liz. She never got to see my bouncy, ebullient self that shows up somewhere around 10 am. She got the Eeyore version of me.  “Maybe I should make an appointment with Liz and start training with her again. Then I could get up,” I thought to myself. And then I stumbled into the bathroom and started my day.

And later today I saw the meme. The one above. And it struck me like a fist to the stomach.

“Trainers don’t make you fit.”

“At some point you have to understand that this life is 100% your responsibility.”

Thanks for the reminder, meme.

I need to get up and greet the me that wants to exercise. I need to make the commitment to myself, not to Liz the Magnificent. I need to remember that I’m worth getting up at 5:30 am for.

It’s time for me to expand even more into the me I want to be. The even stronger, healthier me.

So maybe I’ll call Liz the Magnificent just to tell her I’m thinking of her and to thank her for the inspiration. She helped me start working out back then when I really needed her.

But I had to take that first step. I had to reach out and get the help I needed at the time. That was my responsibility.

What are you ready to do?

P.S. The meme was anonymous, no writer was credited. So if you think up something cool, give yourself credit.