I generally don’t make New Year’s resolutions for one main reason: I don’t keep them. The only New Year’s resolution I’ve kept to date is pretty silly. But at the same time not completely ridiculous. My resolution was to not wear sweat pants, yoga pants (yes Lululemon’s!), or PJ pants in public. With the exception of wearing yoga or work-out pants from the gym to the car, I have kept this resolution for going on seven years. It was mostly a look good, feel good thing. I have no qualms with people wearing sweats or Lulu’s in public, I just wanted to do this personally to feel more confident and ready to take on the day.
As the semester is coming to a crashing halt, I’m looking forward to what’s ahead. I’m looking forward to having a little extra free time, some “me” time. I have not been spending nearly enough time taking care of myself. I keep telling myself, “oh life is just crazy right now,” but really it’s mostly poor time management on my part.
Yesterday I decided to do something I hadn’t done in a couple of weeks– go for a run. And oddly enough the time flew by as my feet hit the treadmill. It’s usually a struggle to get through the 15, 20, or 30 minutes I spend running.
I needed that 20 minute run, mostly to clear my head.
It made me think about my friend Rose’s blog post from a few weeks back. I was working out to feel good, to treat myself for putting in a long day of work. For once, I wasn’t running because I ate Tim Hortons too many times in one week or because I was punishing myself for whatever reason. The run was the reward.
Years ago I used to spend over two hours at the gym at least four times a week. I would force myself to work out regardless of how I felt. I would exercise to point of exhaustion. Earlier this week I felt so overwhelmed, so exhausted with everything going on work-wise, school-wise, and life-wise yet I had a pull from within telling me to take a little time out for myself.
The gym felt like a whole new experience. The environment hadn’t changed. My mind frame had changed. The gym was no longer a place where I had to stay until I burned X number of calories or ran for X minutes. Perhaps I enjoyed my run because it was short and hadn’t done any exercise beyond taking the stairs in a few weeks.
I’ve been telling people for months, if not a year, that I want to try boxing. After all, Pan Am boxing is only a few blocks away from my school. I’ve yet to set foot in the building.
So, this takes me to my (New Year’s) resolution:
Try a boxing class.
Now that it’s in writing, someone (everyone who reads this) can hold me accountable for following through with my resolution. And this is one that I can actually keep.
Exercise should be a treat, you should do it because you want to do something positive for your mind and your body. It hasn’t always been this way for me. But thinking about it, playing soccer has probably been one of my favourite forms of “exercise”. I don’t have time right now to play in a league because of my hectic school schedule, but I look forward to getting back into the game when I have more time. And I’m also looking forward to trying a boxing class in 2015.
Cheers to positive resolutions, whether they’re for now or the new year.
The Life of Lucky 