Hi, sweet friends! How have y'all been?!
I decided there would be no truer version of myself to deliver to you than to write a New Year's post at the end of February. So if you've already fallen off your resolution wagon, or you're a procrastinator like me and are just getting started, this one's for you :)
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I just want to declare it once and for all: January is a stupid month.
It knows it's stupid, too. Out of bitterness, January makes us stop having fun on December 26th. All of the magical Christmas decor gets shoved into a corner of a store in a hasty pile and forgotten, all the twinkle lights come down, and all the kale comes out. And listen, I don't have anything against kale--I just get agitated that for two solid weeks after Christmas it is impossible to navigate through the produce aisle *and* I get judged for buying eggnog 70% off.
Why can't we have fun and goals, January? Why can't I work and celebrate? Why do we have to forsake one for the other?
I didn't agree with the message it was sending, so I basically boycotted January (which was fun until the eggnog ran out.) The problem with "taking it easy" while the rest of the world is busy setting goals is that it inevitably makes you feel like a lazy turd. Goals are good and ambitions are necessary for a life well lived.
But after living as an outsider these past months watching everyone else perfect their "hustle," I can fairly say that not everything needs hustle. Hard work and hustle are not always synonymous. In fact, sometimes hustle just makes things harder.
I recently just completed a 30-day ab challenge in 60 days...because my abs do life at their own speed.
The first time I did this workout series, I completed every workout on its specific day, and I ended up straining my obliques and had to see a doctor. Even after my doctor's visit, I kept doing the workouts LIKE AN IDIOT because I didn't want to lose progress or get off pace with the program. Did I complete the program? Sure! Did I maximize the health benefits from those exercises? Heck no! In fact, it took me a while to be able to work out at all after that because I needed serious rest and healing.
This time around, I listened to my body the whole time. Some days I could add additional weights. A week later, I needed to modify and reduce back down again. Sometimes I could squeeze more reps in than the instructor. Sometimes I needed an extra rest day. Sometimes, I needed to do an easy run instead of doing a floor routine. Sometimes, I needed a beer and a taco.
Did I complete the program? Yes! Did I maximize the health benefits from those exercises? I'm not sure, but I do know I'm not laying on the floor like Joey Tribbiani. (Dang you, fifteens!)
The craziest thing in my quest to achieve the "it" that I'm looking for in this season of life is that I'm acting like I'm racing against timer--and then if the timer dings, that somehow means I have to stop trying. Some things in life are like that, sure. But I'd bet not as many as we think there are. In fact, I believe second chances come around way more than two times. And if you'll grant me the license to dream a bit here, I'd venture to guess that a good many of our goals and aspirations don't come with an expiration date. So long as we're pursuing them, we just get a little bit closer...however slowly...till it's ours.
Our problem is that we either wear ourselves out racing the imaginary timer; or we think the imaginary timer dinged, so we just stop trying.
Let's live in the land of "what if" for a minute...
What if you don't complete your New Year's Resolution by December 31st? Would that mean your goal stops being achievable?
Does it stop being a goal for you after that? Would you not want it just as much for yourself a week later? A month later?
Who told you that good goals would be any less good if they were reached in two years? Five years? Ten years?
Who told us that goals had to be accomplished neatly in a 365-day window?!?
Here's the deal. Maybe we aren't going to make the December 31st deadline this year and we already know it. Maybe these two months have just been the absolute busiest, or the absolute worst...or even the absolute best in an unexpected way that skewed your schedule. (Or maybe you boycott January like someone else I know.)
Let's shatter the illusion that goals ding on a timer and then we have to stop moving. Let's quit believing the lie that aspirations have an expiration date. Let's use our days, one at a time, to just get a little bit closer to the things we're reaching for...however slowly...till they're all ours.
Sometimes it's hard to see what those small, slow steps are doing. But I guarantee you those small steps matter, friend.
Take it from the girl who uses 60 days for her 30-day programs but has been working out consistently for ten years.
The only way your timer really dings is if you quit.
Happy New Year, y'all ;)
