Every year when September rolls arounds, hundreds of students find themselves in a self assessment craze, anticipating how they plan on taking on this new school year. We’re getting ready to revamp their lives. We’re talking calendars. Budgets. Bucket lists. Compulsive cleaning. Mass reorganization. New stationary. New standards. New goals. New wardrobe. New hair, and of course, a portrait of the ideal healthy new body framed on top of your desk, one that by Christmas time, you know will be yours. You have your new fitness gear, drew out a clear-cut diet, and have that five-days-a-week workout session all planned out. Ready to go, everything in check, this year will be the year. Its exciting, its motivating, its exhilarating, and best of all its happening.This idea of a new you is great. A good assessment paired with great intentions and abundant motivation calls for extraordinary results.
However, with the blink of an eye, here we are already facing the beginning of November, which of course marks the mid-semester point. Time flew by, so fast that the original portrait, that was so desirable and attainable, is now starting to shatter, looking a little less vibrant than before. You can’t help but wonder how you managed to neglect it so much without even noticing. What was once so well put together and promising is now becoming a large, chaotic mess.
What Happened?
School happened. Friends happened. Alcohol happened. All the lovely perks of being a student happened. Laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, cleaning, transiting…that all happened. It’s no wonder that in the midst of this havoc, you managed to knock the portrait down a few times. Now, not only must you figure out how you will go about picking up the pieces, you must figure out how to prevent the rest from shattering.
Suddenly, the portrait isn’t as compelling anymore. Instead, it becomes more of a lurking presence, one that stares down on you, calling you out on your failures. Gaining the courage to work towards your fitness goal is starting to be intimidating. You’ve waited for too long, and it seems like once again, this year won’t be the year. The pressure of attaining your ideal “you” now becomes a source of stress, constantly reminding you that you broke a promise to yourself. The more you think about it, the bigger the issue gets. The idea of working out used to be a fun thought, but now facing the issue becomes scary, and so you rather ignore it. Being in the land of fitness lethargy is very displeasing. Yet, most of us unwillingly find ourselves being its regular visitors.
It is a bewildering phenomenon, but yet so simple. It seems as though the fool-proof plan you’ve established at the beginning of the year might very well resemble the one that you’ve established the year before, and the year before that, and maybe even the year before that one. Insanity was once defined by doing the same things over and over again expecting different results. With that in mind, maybe its time we stop assessing our fitness level, and rather start assessing the way we want to approach the idea of fitness.
Severing the Gap
Many of us perceive fitness as an externality, as though fitness were an object of its own, one that we must work towards in order to obtain. This illusion of a gap between yourself and fitness instills the idea that you must find a way to fill the void to get it. In practice, this idea holds some truth. One must work towards their goals in order to become fit and healthy. But ideally, believing that there is a separation between you and your ideal self allows for failure of achievement; the possibility that you won’t become it. By viewing yourself and your ideal self as one in the same, and omitting the separation, you start to build a bridge that connects you to your aspirations. It therefore becomes a direct projection of yourself, rather than a mere idea. And with this, comes a new way of thinking.
It is important to understand that you are your body. You must treat it, respect it and love it as yourself, not as anything else. When you tune into your body’s presence, you will notice a palpable synergy between its elements. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Not only can your body move, but it can act, react, and coordinate. It has a mind of its own. The synergy is astonishing, it is admirable; it is where all the little wonders of the world lie. As you are able to recognize its greatness, a feeling of amazement and appreciation will surface. This appreciation is necessary to the compassion you should develop for your body.
It is easy to get sidetracked by life and fail to recognize your body for what it is. It is easy to take its functions for granted and to neglect its essential needs. However, the more you gain awareness of your body’s existence, the more naturally inclined you will be to give it the care and attention it needs. Nourishing it and replenishing it through physical activity will no longer be a burden, it will be your way of being kind, being kind and attentive to what allows you to physically manifest yourself as a being. As it is important to find motivation in goal setting, it is primordial to be connected with your body’s state and condition. Your body will tell you what it needs, as you suggest what you want. It really is all about synergy; working together, as one, to evolve into something greater than the sum of its parts. Commit yourself to your body’s wellbeing, and it will commit to yours. The secret lies in attentiveness, kindness and perseverance. It is a fragile relationship that must be cared for and attended to in order for it to break through in all its greatness.
It is time to stop idealizing, and start embodying. Tune in to yourself. Listen closely. Adjust to the rhythm and let the dance begin.
Pictures : http://www.designzzz.com/freedom-concept-photography/