Motivation

Getting to the club after work, changing into workout clothes and hopping onto a stationary bike. All was going according to the plan. Only by the time I got there, all the bikes were in use. No room in the inn. Drat...turns out, I wasn’t the only person with that plan.

“Okay,” I thought, “there’s another class an hour later. I’m close enough to home, I could go and come back.” Yes, I do actually talk to myself.

Driving away in the dark and rain, thoughts began to creep into my head about not coming back. After all, it was a long day. Tomorrow seems like a better day to work out a little more. Just stay home.

“Are you kidding me?” Talking to myself again. “I can’t believe me. I thought all day about getting in a great cardio workout on a bike, and because a class was full, now I’m going to scrap the idea?”  Good point, self.

It’s that motivation thing, and I get it. How many times can we throw our whole selves into in a day before we say, “enough?” Work can be stressful, even when it’s not physically demanding. Throw on some time management, traffic, bills, managing the kids schedules...they all mount up. Sometimes exercise doesn’t even make the list.  That was me through most of my forties.

The more I think about it, the more clear it becomes that my motivation challenge is largely because we have cars. Take those out of the equation and everything--everything changes. Walking, riding, public transit, would require more physical activity than the automobile lifestyle I now live. Mrs C and I both have jobs that require us to drive to multiple locations each day, using our own vehicles as transportation. We live in a neighborhood that is more than a mile from any kinds of goods or services. Cars have become necessities for us. If this is life as I know it, at least for now, I’d better find some outlets for physical activity.

So yes, I did convince myself to get back to the club last night. 

In my car.