Overwhelmed and Under Inspired?

You know those days or weeks or even occassionally months where the world is spinning so fast and it's all you can do to hang on?

I know you have them. We all do.

I'm in one of those cycles now. Work is a bonafide cyclone. I have no idea if I'm coming or going. It feels like there's 874 things to do and I can't even seem to knock numbers 1-5 off the list. Jim is stressing a little about his job and that makes me worry. My kid is experiencing some medical issues that consume part of my thoughts. My family is going through a stressful time. The holidays are coming and I have nothing done ... and on and on and on and on ...

There just aren't enought hours in the day to put a dent in any of it and the stress level is (say it like Rachel Zoe) be-yond.

So when I wake up at 4:40 every morning and immediately start worrying about whatever it was that I was worrying about when I fell asleep, the first thing I think about is skipping my workout. I just want to pull the covers over my head and hide. Right now, in fact, I'm already dreaming about sleeping in tomorrow and NOT making the trip to the basement to hop on the treadmill.

I haven't missed a day in more than three weeks, I reason. Surely I deserve a day off. Surely I have earned a little extra snuggle-in time.

Right?

That old thinking is so easy to fall back into. I fight it often.

I fight it with this:

I remember that the workout IS the reward. The workout is the thing that HELPS the stress. The workout lets me take one worry OFF my list.

And, quite frankly, the workout is the one thing I can control in this whirlwind.

It's 45 minutes set aside for just me. It's the one point in the day where I put myself first.

Staying healthy is the very best thing I can do for myself.

So I get out of bed. Head downstairs. And walk.

I hope YOU make time to be nice to you, too. You deserve it.