There comes a time when you have to say, “Yes.” Yes to breaking the rules, yes to treating yourself, and yes to the mantra of, “I am enough.” Before you continue to read, I want to articulate that I am the first person to advocate a clean, healthy lifestyle. A lifestyle filled with whole food and sweat, and challenging myself physically and mentally every single day. However, as bittersweet as it is, I am a perfectionist. I like everything to be in order, my meals and workout routines to be on point, and to see continuous results. What a perfect world we would live in if we could all achieve that! But the truth is, sometimes I can’t. I don’t think any of us can because life gets in the way, and some days we just don’t have the ability to work towards our goals 24/7. When the day is over, and reality sets in, we have to accept what is real, what we can achieve, and also, what we cannot.
Each one of us works hard. We work towards becoming better individuals every day, and we do our best to live healthy lives. For some of us, we have a goal in mind of how we want to look and how we want to feel, whether it’s for a special event, or for a lifestyle change. Developing a healthy eating and fitness routine is very rewarding, but can also be mentally exhausting- especially if the routine is unrealistic in the long run. Even though we work hard, it’s important to realize that we should be able to let loose and have fun, cheat and be merry, and enjoy everything life has to offer. I’ve learned that happiness leads to success, and have realized that getting down on myself every time I don’t follow my routine perfectly only affects my sanity- not my goals.
So why do we enter into this negative headspace? I think we’ve been conditioned to believe that consistency is key in achieving greatness, and that going off track will only set us further away from our goals. In essence, consistency is key, but this needs to be taken with a dose of reality. Sometimes, we need to take a step laterally in order to move forward. Sometimes, we need to take a break, rest for a while, indulge in our favourite things, and then continue to push. These moments don’t set us back, these moments drive us forward, because they allow us to develop perspective, and to listen to what our bodies need. It’s also important to realize that there is only so much that we can do to change ourselves. We can all work out every single day, eat a super clean diet and say, “No” to temptations. This will, without a doubt, allow us to achieve results. But there are also things that we cannot alter physically, no matter how hard we try. All we can do is focus on creating the best versions of ourselves, and be accepting of who we are and what we have. This acceptance is not an excuse to not work hard, it is simply a realization that healthy, fit and happy looks different on everyone.
What I hope you take away from this is an understanding that it is okay to not be perfect. There will be moments when we will have to say “No,” but there should also be times when saying “Yes” doesn’t result in feelings of guilt or anger. I also hope that you never stop working towards creating the best version of yourself- whatever that means to you. The journey should be challenging, but there should also be times of enjoyment. Cherish those moments, and remember: a happy, healthy mind creates a happy, healthy body.
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