“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” -Albert Einstein
This month, to celebrate my 44th trip around the sun, I promised to take better care of myself. One way I wanted to do that is to focus on being consistent because that’s something that I have always failed at. I realized that change does not happen overnight, nor does it magically happen. The thing that I didn’t know (that I probably should have known) is that change requires a plan. I can want to change, but if I don’t plan out how to change, I’m in the same spot. The thing that I have realized–and it is such a simple concept–is change doesn’t require us to restructure our lives or do something drastic.
Back in December, I was talking to my doctor about my health and wanting to get off of some of the medications I’m currently taking. He said, “Think of it this way: for every day you exercise, that’s one less pill to take.” I had never looked at that way. I realized a long time ago that I don’t like extreme exercising. But no one said that that’s the type of exercise required, I had just convinced myself it was. I used look up HIIT, cardio blasts, or aerobic videos to do and halfway through I would be completely and utterly over it. However, at the end of last month, one of my coworkers suggested a video of an instructor who is all of my favorite things: not a big talker, not trying to get me to run a marathon, knowledgeable about fitness, not super skinny, and encouraging. Since then, a couple of times a week, I have either done one of her videos or when it’s nice outside, went to the park to walk. I stopped turning on my tracker and now that I feel like I’m not under any pressure, it’s easier for me to commit a regular fitness schedule without it feeling like a chore.
This is just one example, but I always think about that definition of insanity whenever I’m trying to change something about myself. While I’ve never done the exact same “thing” hoping for different results, I have done things with the same mind frame or the same expectations, hoping for something different. Sometimes moving different is just shifting your thoughts just a little to the left, so to speak. It doesn’t have to be perfect or make sense to anyone other than you. The best way for us to move forward is one step at a time.
Until Next Time, Inilya XOXO
Inilya Spencer 