This morning I beat the alarm clock up. Something that isn't a typical task when my alarm goes off at 4:30 am every weekday morning. 3:58 came and went and I was ready to go. So meditate, set my intention for the day, walk through important tasks to be done in my mental to-do list, then up and at them.
As I engaged in my morning ritual of sitting at the computer with my lemon water and coffee, checking emails and allowing myself "process and wake up time", I ran across a couple of quotes that resonated strongly. My focus today, and seemingly for the past several months, as been on belief. Belief in oneself, belief in others, what we believe, and how it effects us and our relationships. The importance of what you believe as an individual is not only defining to how you think and engage in relationship with yourself, but how you engage with others. It's your energetic, karmic and literal calling card.
Case in point, last night after a long 14 hour day at work, I decided to engage in loving action towards myself. Instead of heading straight home and collapsing on the couch, I went to the gym. Some people might ask, "how is that loving?". For me it's simple. My body and I have come to an understanding with each other that's been a long and winding road. My head now understands that my body needs physical excercise to release the stress components and toxins of the day. I had the energy and knew that I wouldn't be engaging in anything creative when I got home because of the length of the day--so let's keep it simple. One mile in the pool. Nothing crazy, nothing too strenuous. 32 laps.
The pool in and of itself, has always been calming to me. Being a Cancer/Leo cusp, it seems logical that I have a draw to water. I lived in the water when I was a kid. Swimming lessons, swim teams, during the summer we'd spend 10 am to 5 pm in the pool. Of course, I pay for that now with melanoma and constant skin checks. The sun isn't my friend in that respect. There's a zone you get in though, whether you're in the pool, on the tred mill, working circuits, dancing, doing yoga, creating something, whatever it might be; it's where you leave your mind and are fully engaged on a different plane. For me, now physical activity is part of my spiritual practice with myself. It's an essential component to the mind, body, spirit combination. Believe me, I tried for years to avoid the body part; but like everything in life, there must be balance to be healthy.
But, back to belief and the power of it. The constant mental battle for me and the beloved gym (I say that somewhat sarcastically), is the diatribe between my believing self and my non-believing self. My non-believing, self defeatest self can be relentless with phrases, to myself of course, that annihilate my self esteem. It takes the strength of belief, to talk over those phrases. As I continue to look at the power of belief, I'm forced to look at how the belief in oneself effects who you draw into your life and how you perceive not only yourself, but others and how those perceptions and beliefs effect all of your relationships.
Sometimes I think I'm the only one who puts in a 12-14 work day then hits the gym either doing cardio, weights, or both. I use to dread doing a workout after work but, I knew it was necessary. Waiting till my days off wouldn't be enough time during the week to effectively burn fat and build muscle. Yeah, these workouts are tougher than normal workouts done at other times like in the a.m. or afternoon. But, how are you going to get in decent shape if you don't train effectively enough. So, I understand why you do it and yeah, it sometimes sucks. While your in the gym physically pushing your body to max levels, our friends and family are doing things normal people do on a fall evening. But, this just shows that we have a will power that has focused us to be dedicated into gettting into good shape.
ReplyBelief and experience. Just wanted to commend you for believing in yourself (and knowing the other side of that equation as well).
To add my own two cents if I may: a belief is a thought until it becomes an experience. Someone can tell me the sky is blue and I can believe it but until I actually have the experience of it myself, it remains a belief.
The reason I bring this up is not to quibble with semantics. I know what you mean about believing in yourself. Just add to that "I have an experience of the truth of who I am". You know what I'm talking about...
Love,
Jill
ReplyI totally agree with these statements. You have to work at it in order to achieve the results you want. This is the risk you take while choosing to diet and doing anything to get in shape. It's almost like your life changes from one extreme to another. Work hard and stay at it!
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