What is it that motivates us?
As often as not it’s being so tired or bored with what we have been doing that desire for something new simply lifts us and moves us in a new direction.
Human beings get stuck in ruts. We appreciate the familiar. Sometimes it’s far more comfortable to just stay put than to find a new path. Until we simply cannot stay put.
Recently I was speaking to some clients about their new health improvements.
One client had waited a very long time to focus on her health, putting it off until her child went to college. During our sessions she reported feeling bored and lonely. She said she wanted to start getting fit, but didn’t want to go to a gym, because she was afraid others might judge her for the way she currently looked.
I asked if she was a more critical judge of herself – or of others. She admitted that she judges herself more harshly than she does other people. I simply pointed out that the same is true for most of us and that everyone at the gym is probably too busy judging themselves to have time to judge her. I added that everyone at the gym would be focused on self-improvement and could judge her favorably for pursuing similar goals. She quickly discovered that the feelings of loneliness and boredom decreased at the gym and can’t BELIEVE she waited so long to feel this powerful in her own skin again!
Another of my clients has begun walking 3 to 4 miles several times a week, and is changing some of her food choices. I asked her what had finally motivated these changes for her and I LOVE her reply:
“One day I just got off the fucking couch and started walking.”
After I stopped laughing she told me it wasn’t much that first day. “I only walked three or four blocks, but it felt GOOD to be outside instead of playing a video game, so I decided to take a walk again the next day.”
So whether it’s because you are wanting something new in your life, or you’re just tired of “what is” you CAN make changes! We have to start somewhere. Maybe all we need to do is get off the fucking couch!
Try it, and see where your feet lead you!
